


Ra'Tasha's Journal

by Will_Keaton



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Diary/Journal, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-17 19:18:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 31,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11857977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Will_Keaton/pseuds/Will_Keaton
Summary: The journal of Ra'Tasha the Khajiit, chronicling his adventures in the land of Skyrim.





	Ra'Tasha's Journal

Greetings. You hold in your hands the travelling journal of the Khajiit known as Ra'Tasha. Read on and learn of the land of Skyrim and the adventures that are to be had within.

201st year of the 4th Era

12th of Last Seed: This marks Ra'Tasha's first entry into this journal. Ra'Tasha has lived in Cyrodiil all his life and never left its boarders. But now that is about to change. Last night Ra'Tasha was approached by an associate of an old business partner who wants to hire Ra'Tasha's services. Dar'Jiin approached Ra'Tasha in a Chorrol tavern, asking for help moving a caravan of goods across the boarder into Skyrim. Dar'Jiin says many bandits roam the boarders of Skyrim and he wants Ra'Tasha's blade and claws to keep his goods safe. We carry mostly grains and vegetables but Dar'Jiin says they should bring us a fair price at a market in Skyrim, since the cold makes it harder to grow such food. 

Ra'Tasha agreed. Not right away, but Ra'Tasha agreed. This will be a great opportunity for Ra'Tasha to see more of Tamriel. The caravan leaves for the mountainous land of Skyrim the day after tomorrow. Ra'Tasha will be busy until then readying to leave Cyrodiil.

14th of Last Seed: Chorrol is out of sight now as the caravan makes its way to the boarder. Dar'Jiin has never been to Skyrim before either, but he seems to know enough about it. It is the only province in all of Tamriel that is still loyal to the empire, except for High Rock. Though some say there are rebels in Skyrim that want it to break off and become independent. Ra'Tasha does not care much for politics.

15th of Last Seed: So far there have been no signs of bandits. With luck things will stay that way. We cross the boarder into Skyrim tonight. Specifically we will be crossing into Falkreath Hold, one of nine so called “Holds” or regions that make up the province. Ra'Tasha questions the necessity of performing the boarder crossing at night. Dar'Jiin says that we will have an advantage against attackers if it is dark.

Ra'Tasha is more excited than he thought he would be and is rather looking forward to seeing the sights. The Throat of the World is in Skyrim and is the largest mountain in Tamriel.

16th of Last Seed: Treachery! Barely an hour across the boarder and we were stopped by an Imperial patrol. Ra'Tasha thought everything was going to be fine at first but Dar'Jiin leapt from the caravan and tried to run into the woods. He didn't make it far before he was felled by the archers.

The guards searched through the goods inside the caravan. Then I learned why Dar'Jiin ran as he did. They guards have found several cases of moonsugar, as well as some vials of Skooma hidden amongst our goods! That cursed Dar'Jiin! He had hoped to use Ra'Tasha to help him smuggle narcotics into the land of the Nords. Were he not already dead I'd kill him with my own claws!

It is dark and the guards keep watch upon Ra'Tasha. One of them searched me and found this journal. He is letting me write one final entry before I am taken away. This journal was supposed to be a record of great adventures, instead it appears it will be Ra'Tasha's last will and testament.

17th of Last Seed: The most incredible thing has happened! Ra'Tasha still cannot believe it! After Ra'Tasha was caught by the Imperial patrol, he was chained and carried off in a wagon with other prisoners; a thief and two Stormcloaks, one who called himself Ralof and another who was gagged, apparently their leader. It seems these Stormcloaks are starting a rebellion and are the reason for all these Imperial patrols. We arrived in a small town known as Helgen and were readied for execution. The thief lost his nerve and tried to run, only to be shot in the back with arrows. There was one Nord in front of Ra'Tasha who was soon beheaded. Then it was Ra'Tasha's turn.

Just when Ra'Tasha believed himself to be dead, everyone started screaming. Ra'Tasha looked up and saw a dragon. At first he did not believe his eyes, but soon enough sense returned to him and he began running for his life. Ra'Tasha joined a group of Stormcloaks and ran into a cavern that was connected to the bottom of a tower. While the dragon continued its reign of destruction on the village outside, we slowly made our way deeper into the cave.

A cave-in saw us separated, leaving Ra'Tasha alone with the one called Ralof. We encountered a bear and some very large spiders. And by large, Ra'Tasha means they come up to your waist. Ralof called them frostbite spiders We certainly have nothing like that in Cyrodiil. It was not long before we made it out of the cavern and saw the sun again. Now we are welcomed by the family of Ralof's sister, who lives in Riverwood. It is most pleasing to sit down and eat a meal amongst company before sleeping in a bed. It is a pleasure this Khajiit thought the would never see again.

Ra'Tasha knows Ralof is a member of the rebellion, and he generally tries his best to stay out of politics, but after the Imperials tried to chop his head off, Ra'Tasha is certainly not trusting the Empire any time soon. On top of everything else Ra'Tasha cannot stop thinking about the dragons. They were said to have been wiped out centuries ago. Why have they come back, and what do they want? Some legends say they come to herald the end times. Now the fur on Ra'Tasha's back keeps standing up.

18th of Last Seed: In the interests of Riverwood, Ra'Tasha left for Whiterun before dawn. I am told the Jarl resides there, acting as some sort of duke for the region. That is why this one was asked to warn him about the dragons, Ralof is a wanted man, so he clearly could not go.

On the way to Whiterun, Ra'Tasha passed through a farm and saw a group of soldiers slay a giant. They call themselves the Companions, saying they do mercenary work for coin. Sounds just like the Fighter's Guild back in Cyrodiil. Ra'Tasha also ran into a small group of merchant Khajiit outside the city. He did not expect to see many of his people so far from Elsweyr, but is glad to see friendly faces nonetheless.

Soon Ra'Tasha was inside Whiterun, capital of Whiterun Hold. It is a very nice city, protected within a large wall and organized into three rings that make up the districts. Waterways are carved into the stone and there is a large tree in the center of town. At the highest point is Whiterun's castle, known as Dragonsreach. Apparently it is called that because it once acted as a prison for a dragon long ago. Once Ra'Tasha was inside he delivered his message to Jarl Balgruuf. He was more than a little anxious to hear that dragons had returned to Tamriel. He introduced me to his court wizard, Farengar, who wants me to look for a “dragonstone” in a place called Bleak Falls Barrows.

Ra'Tasha has spent the last several hours running through the Bleak Falls Barrows. It is a dank, dingy cave, overrun with bandits, giant rats and the undead. In some ways it is as though Ra'Tasha never left Cyrodiil. It also had many traps, but they did more damage to the undead than to Ra'Tasha. The locals call the zombies here Draugrs. Apparently they take their powers from the dragons who they used to worship, unlike other zombies who are revived by necromancers and the like. At least that is what Ra'Tasha figures, he is not an expert on the undead. One of the Draugrs got caught underneath a gate and became so stuck upon it that he would not dislodge no matter how many times the gate raised and fell.

There was also a thief tied up in some spider webs that begged for this one's help. However, after being cut down, he ran. Well, tried to run. On his body Ra'Tasha found a golden dragon claw. A good thing too, as he found it was needed to open a special door within the cave.

After following an underground stream for a while, Ra'Tasha found the dragonstone being guarded by another walking corpse, right next to a wall with some strange writing. Despite never having seen anything like it before, Ra'Tasha felt like he could read it somehow, like some of the words came off the stone and burned themselves into his head.

19th of Last Seed: Ra'Tasha returned to Dragonsreach with the stone, only to learn of another dragon flying about near a sentry tower to the west. Jarl Balgruuf sent a platoon of soldiers to fight it, including this Khajiit.

There is no sense pretending we weren't afraid when that dragon started circling above us. After all, we were to battle a foe that no one alive today has even seen. However, after a long and gruelling battle, we emerged victories. The flesh and innards of the dragon disappeared in a great flame, leaving only bone behind. As all this was going on a strange feeling overcame Ra'Tasha, making him feel stronger, almost as if he was taking the power from the dead dragon.

One of the guards present said I was a dragonborn. Ra'Tasha had heard the stories about Tiber Septim and his powers, but he still did not believe he might be one. Then he let out a loud shout that staggered the Men around him. Maybe Ra'Tasha is dragonborn.

Upon returning to Whiterun, a thunderous wave split through the air. It seemed to shout “Dovahkiin!” Ra'Tasha did not know what it was, but the Jarl insisted it was a summon from the Greybeards living atop the Throat of the World. He seems to think they know Ra'Tasha is dragonborn and wish to speak with him. The stories of the Greybeards are ones this one has heard before. They are said to study all their lives to learn the power of the Thu'um, speaking words from dragon language to unleash great power. Supposedly a dragonborn can speak the dragontounge without any study. Ra'Tasha is eager to find out.

The Jarl also gave Ra'Tasha the title of Thane for his efforts slaying the Dragon. He also assigned this one a housecarl, who answers to the name of Lydia. It seems a housecarl is similar to a bodyguard. Before we left town, we saw an old man shouting about Talos. He seemed upset, probably still angry that Talos worship had been outlawed within the Empire. Ra'Tasha has never been very religious, but he does not like the idea of someone saying that one of the Nine Divines can no longer be spoken of.

Before leaving, Ra'Tasha went to see the group of Companions that operate out of Whiterun's great hall, Jorrvaskr. Some were telling stories of how they fought in the Great War against the elves of the Aldmeri Dominion who invade the Empire from the southwest. Ra'Tasha spent most of that war staying as far away from the fighting as possible. He did not wish to kill either the ones defending their homeland, nor the ones who now watch over Elsweyr. After talking for a bit, Ra'Tasha decided to join the Companions, though the first thing they had him do was run errands fetching swords and shields.

20th of Last Seed: After a long walk, Ra'Tasha arrived in a small town called Ivarstead, located at the base of the Throat of the World. Along the road Ra'Tasha had a run in with a troll. Minutes after arriving in town, the troll attacked, most likely following Ra'Tasha. Fortunately Ra'Tasha and the townspeople were able to kill it without incident.

After climbing the 7,000 steps, Ra'Tasha arrived at the fortress of High Hrothgar, the home of the Greybeards. Only four men were there to greet this one, though they say there is a fifth living on the very peak of the mountain. They told Ra'Tasha that all dragons have the power of the Thu'ums, that they are born with it and use it to speak to each other, the same as you or I might with our voices. Anyone can learn to speak the dragon language, but it takes many years to master even a single Thu'um. A dragonborn however, can learn them and then use them as easily as they were learning a new word. Ra'Tasha can prove this, as he learned two more words and was soon using them. One made his first shout more powerful. The second allowed Ra'Tasha to dash to a spot across the yard in an instant. The Greybeards used some kind of Thu'um based magic to teach me these shouts, almost like they etched the knowledge directly into my brain.

Unfortunately, the Greybeards did not know why the dragons had returned. They did however ask Ra'Tasha to retrieve a horn that was with the founder of the Greybeard order. Ra'Tasha was happy to help, until he learned the horn was located all the way in Hjaalmarch.

21st of Last Seed: After a very long journey Ra'Tasha has reached Morthal, the capital of Hjaalmarch. With all the mountains in Skyrim you cannot walk in a straight line to your destination, you are constantly walking around mountains, making any long journey even longer. During the trek to Morthal, this Khajiit saw his first sabre cat and killed his first mudcrab since coming to Skyrim. Some things never change. He also saw a giant walking alongside a pair of mammoths as a man might herd cattle. Ra'Tasha also ran into a group called the Vigilants of Stendarr walking along one of the roads. They told this one how they were formed after the Oblivion crisis at the very end of the Third Era. Ra'Tasha is glad he was not around back then. The stories he has heard tell of Daedra coming through portals and attacking cities all across Tamriel, and Mehrunes Dagon himself walking down the streets of the Imperial city. A blizzard was blowing in just as Ra'Tasha was entering town. He is very glad he arrived when he did. Any later and he would have been caught outside in the middle of the storm.

Morthal itself is built on top of a marsh, with walkways running overtop of the water. The locals seem upset with the Jarl, distrusting her both because she has visions, and because she has recently hired a court magician. They also seem on edge because a house in town was burned to the ground, killing a man's wife and child. Ra'Tasha does not like it when people rush to judgment because someone seems different. Khajiit would not be living alongside Men and Mer if everyone felt like that. Though Ra'Tasha still reserves judgment until he has spoken with this court magician. Sometimes people are paranoid for a reason. At the request of the Jarl, this one will investigate the cause of the house fire.

22nd of Last Seed: Ra'Tasha went to the burned house and found the ghost of a small girl named Helgi residing within. She seemed in good spirits. In fact, she asked Ra'Tasha to play hide and seek. The poor thing did not even seem to realize she was dead, though her hiding spot was the coffin she was buried in, so either she does realize she is dead or she is the creepiest little girl Ra'Tasha has ever seen. After finding her, Helgi said that a woman burned down her house. She is probably referring to Alva, the woman her father began seeing as soon as his family was dead. Ra'Tasha also came across a murdered woman, and according to her husband, she was last seen on her way to meet with this Alva. More troubling however, were the signs of vampirism on the corpse.

Before Ra'Tasha's investigation could go any further, Morthal was attacked by a dragon. Ra'Tasha aided the archers in fighting it, but the dragon flew off before we could kill it.

Late at night Ra'Tasha snuck inside Alva's house to prove her guilt. He found a coffin in her basement and a diary detailing how she was a member of a vampire coven that planned to take Morthal. The Jarl must be told of this.

23rd of Last Seed: After exposing Alva's plot to the Jarl, the townspeople formed a mob, complete with torches and everything, ready to march on the vampire coven. When they arrived however they all got cold feet and would not enter the cave where the coven lived. So Ra'Tasha had to go inside and kill the vampires, all by himself, at four o'clock in the morning. Ra'Tasha has other things he could be doing you know. With the help of a flame spell Ra'Tasha was able to kill Alva and all her vampire cohorts. Afterwards Ra'Tasha was greeted by Helgi's ghost, who gave her thanks and said that she could finally rest in peace now that she was avenged. For his service towards the Hold of Hjaalmarch, Ra'Tasha was given the title of Thane.

Ra'Tasha finally made his way to the tomb where the Greybeard's horn was located. Inside, a group of bandits were fighting with necromancers. After some exploring and locating another wall filled with dragon writing, Ra'Tasha found the grave he was looking for. However, the horn was not where it was supposed to be. Instead there was a note instructing the dragonborn to rent a room at Riverwood's Sleeping Giant Inn.

24th of Last Seed: It seems the one who took the horn and left the note was the innkeeper and owner of The Sleeping giant Inn, a woman named Delphine. She returned the horn, then said that she was a member of the Blades. Ra'Tasha had thought the Blades were disbanded after the last Emperor was killed. It seems the Blades are still around however, for Delphine spoke of how they tried to stop the Thalmor prior to the great war. Now that dragons have retuned, the Blades are trying to slay them all again, as their order did centuries ago. Delphine also admitted that Farengar worked for her and that the dragon stone he wanted is actually a map pointing to tombs where the dragons were buried ages ago. According to her, someone or something has been bringing the dragons back to life, because many of these tombs are now empty. We now head east to the town of Kynesgrove within Eastmarch hold. It is here where Delphine believes the next dragon will be resurrected. Before leaving town, this one finally got around to returning the golden dragon claw he found earlier to it's original owners in the Riverwood Trader.

We arrived at Kynesgrove amidst cried of locals who had seen a dragon in the area. Soon we were witnessed to an incredible sight, a great black dragon approaching the tomb and bringing to life the dragon within. The two began to speak to each other, and though I could not make out the words, I was able to catch their names. The one just revived was called Sahloknir. The other, the one who had done the reviving, seemed to be called Alduin. Moreover, Ra'Tasha recognized Alduin as the dragon who had attacked Helgen. Soon the pair became aware of our presence. Alduin flew off, most likely to raise more dragons, while Sahloknir remained behind to try to kill us. He failed and Ra'Tasha absorbed his power just as he did before.

Now Delphine is more desperate than ever to learn how this Alduin has come to Tamriel. Alduin is the name the Nords give to Akatosh, dragon of time and the chief god of the Divines. Even though Ra'Tasha cannot remember the names of most of the Divines, even he knows who Akatosh is, though he did not expect him to be so violent in person. According to old Nord legend, Alduin will bring about the end of the world; a very different Akatosh than the kind, gentle creator who helped seal the doors to Oblivion.

Delphine seems to believe the Thalmor are connected to this somehow. Ra'Tasha remembers the stories of how both moons vanished just over a hundred years ago, and how the Thalmor claimed to have brought them back. It was that show of power that caused Elsweyr to break off from the Empire and join the Aldmeri Dominion under Thalmor rule. The Thalmor have never hid the fact that they don't like Men, but Khajiit are not Men. Our people had no qualms with joining them, especially after they returned the sacred moons. However, if the Thalmor are responsible for the return of the dragons, then Ra'Tasha fears the Khajiit homeland may be allied with the wrong forces.

In the meantime, Ra'Tasha has promised to return the horn to the Greybeards in High Hrothgar, and he intends to do just that.

25th of Last Seed: Ra'Tasha returns to High Hrothgar with the horn. As thanks for his work the Greybeards performed a ceremony giving this one the title of Ysmir, Dragon of the North. They also taught this one the last word of the unrelenting force Thu'um. Ra'Tasha tried it out, and learned he can hurl a person or animal a great distance. He thinks he will enjoy this new power.

After some thought, Ra'Tasha has decided that he will be journeying to the far reaches of Skyrim, visiting all nine of the Holds. He expects to remain in Skyrim for quite some time, so he had better become familiar with the region.

26th of Last Seed: Ra'Tasha has arrived in Windhelm, capital of Eastmarch. The entrance lays on the other side of a bridge spanning the White River, and the entire city seems to be built out of solid stone. The tall walls, the floor, everything. It has not stopped snowing since Ra'Tasha got here and the whole city just makes him depressed. As Eastmarch shares a boarder with the province of Morrowind, many Dunmer have moved here since the eruption of Red Mountain. Unfortunately, some of the locals seem to be quite xenophobic, especially a man by the name of Rolff, who seems to be the most openly hostile. In fact, he challenged Ra'Tasha to bar brawl. Ra'Tasha enjoyed knocking his sorry butt to the floor.

The Palace of Kings is the name of the castle in the center of town where the Jarl rules. The Jarl in this case is Ulfric Stormcloak, leader of the rebellion and the very same man who was to be executed along with Ra'Tasha back in Helgen. It seems he once trained with the Greybeards as well, and has some skill with the Thu'um. That explains why the Imperials had gagged him. Ulfric was also the one who murdered the High King of Skyrim with the use of his Thu'um, apparently because he felt the king would side with the Empire if war broke out.

Ulfric wanted Ra'Tasha to join the Stormcloaks and fight for Skyrim independence, but his second-in-command, Galmar, insisted Ra'Tasha go to a small island in the Sea of Ghosts and kill an ice wraith before being allowed to join. Honestly, Ra'Tasha is not sure what to do. He does not think one side is so much more right than the other. He looks at maps with the whole eastern side of the province marked as Stormcloak territory and the whole western side labelled as belonging to the Imperials. Ra'Tasha is willing to help fight the dragons, as they threaten all mortal life, but he does not see the point in helping us kill each other.

Ra'Tasha then went to the docks just outside Windhelm's wall. The docks are mostly manned by Argonians and they, along with the Dunmer, feel the Jarl treats them as second-class citizens. Apparently, many of the ships are attacked by pirates when they get out into open sea. A member of the East Empire Trading Company asked Ra'Tasha to steal a journal from a Dunmer he suspected of being connected to the pirate group called the Blood Horkers. Sure enough, Ra'Tasha found proof that she works with the pirates. 

Ra'Tasha then travelled south to the Hold known as the Rift. On his journey he came across a giant standing over the body of a mammoth that appears to have died while crossing through a sulphur pool. The giant he seemed so very sad. Ra'Tasha walked right up to him and he didn't seem to mind at all. The two of us just stood like that for a few minutes looking on at the remains of that poor mammoth.

Shortly after that, Ra'Tasha walked through a small mining village called Shor's Stone. Unfortunately, it seems their mine is now overrun with frostbite spiders and they can't get any work done.

27th of Last Seed: It was early morning when Ra'Tasha finally arrived in Riften, capital of the Rift. Though as he tried to enter, the guard insisted Ra'Tasha pay a “tourist fee.” Ra'Tasha told him off and walked right into the city. Riften is a peaceful looking town. Everything is made of wood and it is built on either side of a river, with bridges crossing back and forth across it. There is also a temple to the goddess Mara. The weather is much milder here too.

Things are not as tranquil as they first seem though, as Riften is the home of the Skyrim Thieves Guild, though they don't seem to get much respect and are considered more of a nuisance then anything. Then there is a family known as the Black-Briers who run a meadery and have connections with the Thieves Guild. One resident told Ra'Tasha how he purchased a horse from one of the Black-Briars, but was never given the horse. So Ra'Tasha walked into Black-Briar manor and stole the horse and the paperwork for him. The Black-Briars had hired many mercenaries to guard the house, but in the end Ra'Tasha was alive and they were not.

Whilst walking about outside the city, Ra'Tasha saw a group of Stormcloaks and Imperials battle to the death. It does not seem there is any way of stopping this war. Shortly after witnessing that spectacle Ra'Tasha was himself attacked, not by an Imperial or Stormcloak, but by a member of the Dark Brotherhood. He had a letter upon his person, instructions to have Ra'Tasha killed! The letter was signed by someone named Astrid. Apparently someone wants this Khajiit dead and has already paid the Dark Brotherhood to see that it happens. Ra'Tasha expects to see more assassins come his way before he is finished.

28th of Last Seed: After more than ten days, Ra'Tasha has returned to Helgen, the place where he was almost executed, then almost eaten by a dragon. Much of the town is burned down, especially the wooden structures, though much of the stonework is left intact. No one lives here now except for a group of bandits who moved in. They were foolish enough to pick a fight with Ra'Tasha, and now Helgen is empty once again. One of the bandits stood atop a tower and shot arrows from afar. Once Ra'Tasha climbed to the top his Thu'um sent her flying off the tower to her death.

Once on the road again Ra'Tasha came across a stray dog who was being accosted by some wolves. After saving his life the dog followed Ra'Tasha as he made his way to Falkreath. The two of us killed a handful of bandits and spriggan on our way to Falkreath.

Falkreath is a sleepy town made up mostly of large wooden houses. Its Jarl is a man named Siddgeir, a lazy individual who recently acquired the title through the death of his uncle. He seems content to sit upon the throne and reap the benefits of his position without doing any actual work.

Now Ra'Tasha makes his way west to the Hold known as the Reach. This region has deep valleys carved by rushing rivers. It is also fertile lad for mining. Ra'Tasha came across one mining town who's mine has been overrun by draugrs. Continuing on his journey Ra'Tasha was attacked by a hagraven, a wretched humanoid creature with talons for hands and feet. They say hagravens were once Men or Mer that used dark magic to contort their bodies. Ra'Tasha was able to kill it, but immediately afterwards was set upon by a spriggan matron, said to be much more powerful than ordinary spriggans. Wounded as he was knew he would not be able to survive the battle so Ra'Tasha fled, running until he found a river whereupon he leapt into it. 

29th of Last Seed: Ra'Tasha has not been feeling very well of late. He is not sure how, but at some point he seems to have contracted witbane. He has also lost sight of the dog that was following him, possibly when he was swimming down one of the rivers. Ra'Tasha was also set upon by some wild looking Men. At first he believed they were bandits, but they had primitive clothing and weapons.

Soon Ra'Tasha arrived in Markarth, capital of the Reach. The city is quite beautiful, appearing to be carved right out of the mountains, with streams running through it. Apparently it was built by the Dwemer before they disappeared. Soon enough the city showed it's true colours and Ra'Tasha bore witness to a murder by one who called himself Forsworn. The guards are trying to pretend there is no problem, but they are doing a poor job of it. A young man named Eltrys asked Ra'Tasha to meet him in the shrine of Talos. Apparently these Forsworn have been murdering people for years now. In fact, a mine located just outside the city has apparently been overrun by these people. The town officials have even tried to forbid people from talking about these murders. These are most certainly the ones who attacked Ra'Tasha while he was on the road. Eltrys has asked Ra'Tasha to help with this problem. On the bright side, Ra'Tasha prayed to the shrine of Talos and his witbane is cured.

While walking down the street Ra'Tasha heard stories of a family called the Silver-Bloods, who own Cidhna mine underneath the city and employ slave labour within it. The mine is both a rich source of silver and acts as a prison. The Silver-Bloods are also said to own most of the city and have the guards in their pocket. Ra'Tasha also met a member of the Vigilants of Stendarr, who asked for help searching a house that he believed was occupied by Daedra. After entering, objects flew about our heads and a voice called out to us telling us to kill one another. Before long Ra'Tasha's new friend went mad and this one had no choice but to kill him. The voice then lead Ra'Tasha underground to a shrine and revealed itself to belong to the Daedric Prince Molag Bol. Ra'Tasha was speaking with the King of Rape himself! Apparently a man named Logrolf has been using this shrine to pray to Molag Bal's old rival Boethiah. Now Logrolf has gone missing and the King of Rape has commanded Ra'Tasha to bring him back to the shrine and force him to offer his soul to Molag Bal. Why are all the nice looking cities so evil?

30th of Last Seed: Ra'Tasha was approached by a member of the Thalmor, asking him to break into a man's house to find proof he is a Talos worshiper so that he could be executed. The more time Ra'Tasha spends with the Thalmor the more he dislikes them. Soon Ra'Tasha began looking into the murder that he witnessed upon entering the city. And by “looking into” Ra'Tasha means he broke into people's houses and went through their possessions. He found proof that the murderer is in fact a Forsworn and that he was given his orders by a man named Nepos. Strangely, the victim was an Imperial who was spying on Thonar Silver-Blood. Ra'Tasha went to talk to Thonar and learn what this connection meant. However, while he was speaking with Thonar, a group of Forsworn broke into the house. In the ensuing struggle Thonar's wife was killed. In his grief he told this one everything.

It seems the Forsworn are Bretons who were indigenous to The Reach until they were thrown out by the Nords many years ago. For years the Forsworn tried to take back The Reach, never succeeding until the Great War broke out. They took advantage of the confusion and captured Markarth for their own. Ulfric Stormcloak was the one who pushed the Forsworn back out. During the fighting it seems Thonar had captured Madanach, the Forsworn leader, and locked him away. Now he forces the Forsworn to do his bidding, though it seems they have finally had enough. Ra'Tasha then went to speak with this Nepos person. He admitted to being a forsworn and was very talkative, at first. Soon he and his associates drew their weapons and attacked Ra'Tasha. It was a desperate struggle, but when Ra'Tasha stepped outside he was able to use the power of his Thu'um to blow all of his attackers off a cliff where they fell to their deaths.

Ra'Tasha went to the shrine of Talos to tell Eltrys what he had learned. Inside he found some guards standing over Eltrys' dead body with blood on their swords. Then they arrested Ra'Tasha! Apparently they want this Khajiit to remain silent.

Soon Ra'Tasha was in Cidhna mine beneath the city, and surrounded by Forsworn. He heard a few sad tales of Nordic cruelty towards them and their families. Ra'Tasha also spoke with Madanach. He asked this Khajiit for his assistance in escaping from the mine. Ra'Tasha does not like having to choose sides in a situation like this. The Forsworn have killed, but they have been made criminals in their own land and wish to reclaim it. Eventually Ra'Tasha sided with the Forsworn, knowing he would need their help if he had any hope of escape. It seems Markarth had recently found a tunnel leading into some old Dwemer ruins. Without any other option Ra'Tasha followed the Forsworn through the tunnels, battling frostbite spiders and old Dwemer automatons. Soon we reached the surface, where Thonar was waiting for us with a group of guards. It was a bloody battle, but soon Thonar was dead and the Forsworn ran for the gate. Before parting ways Madanach gave this one some enchanted armour. When Ra'Tasha asked what he would do now Madanach said he would have to lay low for a time and rebuild his forces. For the moment at least, it seems Markarth is free from violence. Although there is still that house that Molag Bal seems to be haunting. Ra'Tasha decided to leave the city, this time by taking a carriage so as to rest his tired feet.

31st of Last Seed: Ra'Tasha arrived at Solitude this morning. The entire city is located atop a narrow cliff and protected by thick stone walls. Upon entering the city this one witnessed an execution. It seems the man on the chopping block was operating the city gate the day Ulfric Stormcloak killed the High King. The man's crime was making no effort to stop Ulfric's escape. A less than subtle reminder that Solitude is strongly against the rebellion.

Solitude itself is a beautiful city. There is lots of grass and vegetation with wide spaces between the buildings. The entire city is built upon a narrow stretch of rock that juts out into the sea.

Ra'Tasha went into the Blue Palace, the seat of power of Solitude. Upon entering the court this one heard talk of strange lights coming from a cave to the south, coupled with a few disappearances. There was also talk of a cave overrun with vampires. It seems this land has no shortage of caves filled with deadly creatures.

Ra'Tasha also spoke to the Jarl of Haafingar Hold, Elisif, widow of the late High King. He learned that one of the Jarls is chosen to be High King during a meeting known as a Moot. However, the High King has always been the Jarl of Solitude, because it has the closest ties to the Empire. That seems to be the main reason Ulfric killed the old High King. The Stormcloak believed the High King to be a puppet of the Empire. Old laws state that if the High King is challenged and killed in combat, the one who defeated him becomes the new High King. This is apparently what Ulfric did, but many are opposed to letting him rule for the simple reason he will make Skyrim succeed from the Empire. As the High King's widow, Elisif does have some right to the throne, though she will not claim it until the rebellion has been quelled. One of these two Jarls will certainly be the new High King of Skyrim. It all depends on how this war goes.

Afterwards, Ra'Tasha decided to take things easy for a bit. He played a game of tag with some of the local children, then regaled them with talk of dragons. While walking down the street Ra'Tasha passed by the bard's college. A college dedicated to arcane arts like sorcery is one thing, but a bard's college? Inside Ra'Tasha saw that, besides teaching how to play the lyre, the place was also rich with old books and tales of long ago were constantly being bandied about. Ra'Tasha admits his history is not as good as it could be. Maybe he'll stop by and listen to a story or two later.

Before leaving, Ra'Tasha was approached by a bard asking for assistance. It seems the Jarl is seeking to ban the long held tradition of burning the effigy of King Olaf. Ra'Tasha has been asked to retrieve a long lost verse of the Poetic Edda, a poem telling the history of Skyrim, specifically King Olaf's verse, written long ago by a bard who despised Olaf. The hope is that with the lost verse recovered the college will be able to change the Jarl's mind.

Ra'Tasha was then approached by a man begging that this one go to the abandoned Pelagius wing of Blue Palace and “retrieve his master from his vacation.” When Ra'Tasha was little he always found tales of Daedric Princes more interesting than those of the Divines, and he recognized the significance of this man pridefully referring to himself as Madman. Sure enough, when Ra'Tasha entered the abandoned area of Blue Palace, he was whisked away to an audience with the prince of madness himself, Sheogorath. According to the Madgod, we were inside the mind of the dead Emperor Pelagius Septim III, the man who outlawed dying while on his deathbed. He then offered this one the Wabbajack and ordered him to “treat” some of Pelagius' “issues.” Despite the unusual things Ra'Tasha was a witness to, he did all that Sheogorath asked of him and was allowed to return home. He was even allowed to keep the Wabbajack. A note to any who are reading this: if you hear any stories about Sheogorath that you believe are too absurd to be real, believe them!

1st of Hearthfire: A new month saw Ra'Tasha arriving in Dawnstar, capital of The Pale. It is a rather small town with no wall, consisting of wooden houses built along the shoreline and piers for boats to dock. Ra'Tasha spoke to a member of the Blood Horkers, and after a few blows to the jaw he was willing to tell this one their base of operations was in a place called Japhet's Folly, and that their leader was a mage known as Haldyn.

It seems the people of Dawnstar have all been having terrible nightmares recently. Ra'Tasha was approached by a priest of Mara. The man, Erandur, who believes the Daedric Prince Vaermina was responsible for all this. Vaermina is the Daedric Prince of nightmares and memory. She apparently has a temple dedicated to her very close to the city.

Before our journey could begin, Dawnstar came under the attack of a dragon. Fortunately, with all the guards present, the dragon was slain with few casualties. This makes Ra'Tasha's third.

Once we arrived at Nightcaller Temple, Erandur had a confession to make. He was once a priest of Vaermina. A few decades ago the temple was attacked by a group of Orcs, and Erandur ran to save his life. Meanwhile, the priests released a gas called miasma that put all that remained to sleep. A sleep that would keep them alive for years at the cost of their minds. As we ventured forth, both the Orcs and priests awoke to slay us

A magical barrier stood in our way. In order to pass it Erandur this one had to drink a special potion called Vaermina's torpor. After drinking it Ra'Tasha went back in time and seemed to inhabit the body of the priest who released the miasma to begin with. Ra'Tasha's actions were no longer his own and he watched through the priest's eyes as he made his way through all the chaos to the lever that released the Miasma. A second later Ra'Tasha was back in the present with his hand still on the switch, and on the other side of the barrier.

It was not long before the two of us found what the priests had risked their lives to protect: the ancient Daedric artefact known as the Skull of Corruption. Its purpose is to enter a person's dream and steal their memories, leaving behind only nightmares. Now the skull had gone out of control. Fortunately, Erandur was able to cast a spell to destroy the Daedric artefact, thus allowing the people of Dawnstar to sleep freely once again.

2nd of Hearthfire: After departing for Winterhold, Ra'Tasha found an old lighthouse which he chose to investigate. Inside however there was carnage. There was a dead woman and a large bug next to her with an ax lodged in it. Ra'Tasha has heard of these bugs. They are known as charus, and they are as big as a full grown wolf. Ra'Tasha found a tunnel in the basement where the bug had had obviously came from. So Ra'Tasha spent most of the day underground clearing out the all charus, and a few Falmer too.

Falmer have not been seen in numbers for many years. Once, they were ordinary elves, not unlike the Altmer or the Bosmer. Then they were driven underground, where they spent centuries in the dark going blind and mad.

3rd of Hearthfire: Ra'Tasha arrived in the self-named capital of Winterhold. Honestly, he was kind of disappointed. The town has no wall and is a little more than a collection of houses placed around the area. Also, it never seems to stop snowing here. Ra'Tasha did speak with a resident who sold him a coral dragon claw, identical to the gold one he found before, except made of coral. Clearly this opens a door in another dank dungeon somewhere. While the city itself is underwhelming, the College of Winterhold is a very impressive building, easily dwarfing any other structure for miles. The northern end of Winterhold is nothing but sheer cliffs dropping off into the sea, but this magic college stands atop a single peak sitting just offshore. Ra'Tasha went inside and began attending classes, knowing his magic skills are not what they could be. Already this one has learned a ward spell and can summon a flame atronach.

Ra'Tasha met another Khajiit also attending some of the beginner level classes. It is good to see another cat out here. There is also a Thalmor representative named Ancano on the grounds. Every time this one has a conversation with a Thalmor he feels the need to take a bath in order clean off all the smugness. It is quite clear Ancano is here ensuring the college has a constant reminder that the Dominion still has power over the Empire.

4th of Hearthfire: Ra'Tasha came back to Whiterun where the Companions gave him an assignment. Ra'Tasha is to retrieve an old sword from a draugr crypt. Farkas will be on hand to evaluate this one's performance and judge if he is worthy to be formally accepted as a Companion.

While in the caves, we were attacked by a group calling themselves the Silver Hand. Ra'Tasha was surprised to see Farkas turn into a werewolf before his very eyes! It seems that some of the Companions are also part of secret sect, known as the Circle, all of whom are werewolves. Guess you learn something new every day. The Silver Hand are werewolf hunters, so it isn't surprising there is bad blood between the two groups. Despite a mess of draugrs, this one and Farkas were able to claim the sword and return to Jorrvaskr where a small ceremony was held to officially accept Ra'Tasha as a Companion.

5th of Hearthfire: After making a stop in Riverwood, Ra'Tasha spoke to Delphine again, who now wants this one to sneak into the Thalmor Embassy and learn how they are connected to this whole dragon business. Ra'Tasha is to go to Solitude and meet with a contact named Malborn. He will help this one gain entry to the embassy there. However, Ra'Tasha is not entirely confident in this plan. Specifically he feels that he is lacking in the areas of stealth and lock picking. He has gone through quite a few lock picks as of late and could probably use some training if he is to make it into and out of the Thalmor Embassy alive. That is why Ra'Tasha is going to Riften. He hopes to join the Thieves Guild that he may be ready to break into the embassy and learn the Thalmor's secrets.

Ra'Tasha arrived at Riften and began asking around town about the Thieves Guild. He was approached by a man named Brynjolf who wanted help with a little scheme of his. While he made a distraction Ra'Tasha was to steal a ring from a vendor in the street. Unfortunately Ra'Tasha got caught by the city guard. Brynjolf did not seem surprised, he says things have not been going their way of late, though he did offer this one a chance to join the Thieves Guild.

Later, Ra'Tasha was walking about the docks on the outskirts of town, when he was approached by a female Argonian begging for a healing potion. It seems she became addicted to Skooma a few years ago and is now on the verge of loosing her job as a result. She said her dealer was named Sarthis Idren and that he operated out of a warehouse on the docks. After telling the Jarl of this news she asked this one to help put an end to his dealings, so Ra'Tasha did, with his sword. While searching about he found much moonsugar and Skooma lying about. He also found a note suggesting the drug ring has just received a new shipment of moonsugar and is using it to make more Skooma in a place called Cragslane Cavern. Ra'Tasha does not doubt that Dar'Jiin was hoping to sell his Skooma to this group in order to make a tidy profit.

On his way to the cavern, Ra'Tasha was attacked by another dragon, this one breathing ice instead of fire. This time Ra'Tasha was alone, without the help of any city guards or other companions, but after a along battle and many arrows Ra'Tasha emerged the victor.

6th of Hearthfire: Moonsugar is the chief export of Elsweyr and is used all across Tamriel, mostly as food seasoning. However, when mixed together with the poisonous nightshade flower, moonsugar can be processed into potent Skooma crystals. Khajiit often carry Skooma with them as they travel, but they are always very cautious with it and know the dangers that come with it. Small doses of Skooma are not dangerous to Khajiit, but can be harmful to other races, though Khajiit don't like to watch others become addicted to the stuff. However, the Skooma Ra'Tasha found in the cave is another beast entirely. This one has never seen so much Skooma before in his life. It is clear these dealers had plans to distribute this dangerous substance far and wide, not caring who they hurt, so long as they turned a profit. Now all involved in this cartel are dead. Ra'Tasha is also glad to have a sort of retribution against Dar'Jiin and the scheming that sent him to the chopping block.

After that, Ra'Tasha followed Brynjolf into the sewers under the city and saw the Thieves Guild headquarters. Before he was accepted into the guild, Ra'Tasha had to do a few small tasks, mostly just convincing people that owed the guild money to pay up. Ra'Tasha a smooth operator. There was no violence, except from one ship-owner who was spoiling for a fight anyway. Afterwards, Ra'Tasha was formally accepted into the Guild. This one was introduced to most of the members, including the guild leader Mercer Frey, and was given a new set of armour. This one also learned that one of the guild's most important clients are the Black-Brier clan, specifically the matriarch Maven. From the stories that get passed around it is clear she is not to be crossed.

7th of Hearthfire: As Ra'Tasha was leaving Riften he had one assignment to pull off for the Thieves Guild, burning down a few beehives at Goldenglow estate and taking some money from the safe.

After stopping by Whiterun, Ra'Tasha purchased a house in the city. It is a cozy little cottage in Whiterun's lowest ring.

8th of Hearthfire: Ra'Tasha arrived in Solitude and took a carriage to the Thalmor embassy. Malborn played the part of a barkeep and snuck in this one's weapons. Maven Black-Brier was at the party, as were several other people who wanted to suck up to the Thalmor. Fortunately one of the guests was happy enough to create a distraction after this one paid for his drink, thus allowing Ra'Tasha to slip away unnoticed.

After looking through the embassy, Ra'Tasha found a dungeon and torture room. If this is how the Thalmor act on foreign soil, just imagine what they do on their own land! There were files on Delphine and Ulfric Stormcloak. There was also a file on someone named Esbern, apparently a Chronicler for the Blades, someone who kept record of all their lore and old legends. It seems the Thalmor have no idea what is behind the dragon resurrection, but they believe this Esbern does. They also believe he is hiding in the Ratway beneath Riften.

Malborn and Ra'Tasha escaped through a cave beneath the dungeon, one occupied by a frost troll. Judging from the bones left behind it seems a safe bet to say the Thalmor dumped bodies in here for the frost troll to dispose of. The more he learns about these Thalmor, the more Ra'Tasha does not like them. Though they are snazzy dressers. Ra'Tasha took some robes off a Thalmor and must admit these elves know how to make a cloak.

9th of Hearthfire: Ra'Tasha and Malborn went their separate ways. Malborn fears he will spend the rest of his life hiding from the Thalmor's retribution. Meanwhile, Ra'Tasha spoke to Delphine at Riverwood. She was genuinely surprised to learn the Thalmor are not behind the dragon resurrection. Perhaps she gives them too much credit. Though Ra'Tasha has heard some Thalmor claiming they were the ones who stopped the Oblivion crisis, while anyone living in the Imperial city could tell it was Martin Septim who personally sent Mehrunes Dagon back to Oblivion with his tail between his legs.

10th of Hearthfire: Ra'Tasha went to the ruins of Saarthal as part of Tolfdir's college field trip, though only one other student besides myself bothered to show up. While exploring the ruins Ra'Tasha found an unusual amulet. When he put it on a vision of a member of the Psijic Order appeared before him warning of a great danger. After searching deeper into the caves this one was attacked an unusual Draugr, one that could not be harmed. At least, that was the case initially. Soon Tolfdir cast a spell that removed whatever enchantments were protecting the Draugr. Upon his corpse Ra'Tasha found a writ of sealing, some sort of magic that condemned the Draugr for a terrible crime. There was also part of an amulet. Within the same room there was a strange magic orb, several times the size of a person, just floating there, bathed in unnatural light. Tolfdir had this one run to tell the Arch-mage of the discovery immediately.

After speaking with the Arch-mage he gave this one instructions to find any books that may explain what this unusual object is. Unfortunately the keeper of the books informed this one that the volumes in question were taken from the College Arcanaeum by some apprentice mages some time ago when they had a falling out with the College over some regulations or something. Ra'Tasha remembers hearing a similar thing happening to the Cyrodiil Mages Guild some 200 years ago, where some where cast out for practicing Necromancy. Before he could begin his search, Ra'Tasha was approached by Ancano, who asked about what was found in Saarthal. Ra'Tasha does not trust this Thalmor in the slightest. It is only a matter of time before he turns on us all. Ra'Tasha can feel it in his whiskers.

Which brings Ra'Tasha to his next point. He has given a lot of thought to the civil war lately. This one never cared much for politics, never caring much who was part of the Elder Council or what parties the various regents would throw. As long as it didn't affect him, Ra'Tasha did not care. However, since coming to Skyrim, he has realized that he cannot just ignore this war. That, and every time he sees a Thalmor he can smell evil on them. That is why Ra'Tasha has decided he will join the Stormcloaks in their crusade to break free of the Empire. As long as Skyrim belongs to the Empire, the Thalmor will have free run of the land, able to execute people for worshipping a god they don't like, spying on everyone, moving about unseen in the shadows doing gods know what. If Skyrim becomes independent they can expunge the Thalmor presence and live freely. Skyrim does not boarder the Dominion, so a war cannot happen, not unless the Dominion marches through Cyrodiil to get here. This may not be what is best for Tamriel, but it is what's best for Skyrim. For the moment at least.

So, with the decision made, Ra'Tasha climbed down the cliffs of Winterhold and swam through the Sea of Ghosts till he reached the isle where the ice wraiths are. Then he climbed out of the freezing water and killed the ghostly snake-like figure of the ice wraith. This should be enough to convince Galmar that Ra'Tasha is worthy to fight for this land.

11th of Hearthfire: Well, Galmar was very accepting of this one upon learning of his victory over the ice wraith. After swearing an oath, Ra'Tasha officially became a member of the Stormcloaks. He hopes he is making the right decision.

Ra'Tasha heard the cries of a young boy while walking through the city. He followed the source of the noise to a strange sight. Inside an empty house was a boy bent over a skeleton, chanting the black sacrament. When he noticed Ra'Tasha, he thought he was a member of the Dark Brotherhood sent to carry out his contract! The boy was so pathetic sitting there, obviously not having slept in days. Ra'Tasha agreed to carry out the contract just so the boy wouldn't kill himself chanting the incantation till he fell deathly ill. It seems that, after his mother died, the boy was sent to an orphanage in Riften, where he was treated badly by the headmistress, a woman named Grelod. Eventually he ran back home and performed this damned ritual to have Grelod killed. Ra'Tasha is not sure what to do. It is possible this woman is a truly cruel woman who deserves a violent death. But this boy is clearly mad with grief. If this Grelod deserves to die Ra'Tasha promises she will, otherwise he may have to tell this boy his tormenter has been killed, even if it is a lie.

Not long afterwards, Ra'Tasha came across the scene of a grisly murder, apparently just the latest in a series. The locals are calling the culprit, “The Butcher.” Ra'Tasha offered to help with the investigation, as most of the guards are busy dealing with civil wars and dragons. Fortunately, Ra'Tasha's keen sense of smell made it easy to follow the scent of blood to an abandoned house. Inside he found a journal clearly written by the Butcher, looking for “fresh” body parts by the way it read. Ra'Tasha turned over the evidence to the city steward and he concluded the court wizard was responsible, being the only person in town with any passing knowledge of magic. When confronted the steward denied the allegations, but did not put up a fight and allowed himself to be locked in the dungeon without incident.

Finally, Ra'Tasha joined a group of East Empire mercenaries as they departed on a ship for Japhet's Folly, home to Haldyn and his Blood Horkers. We could not land the boat due to heavy fog, most likely caused by Haldyn's magic. Ra'Tasha swam to shore and snuck into the pirate base through a cave, and was able to kill Haldyn without much incident. Sure enough, as soon as he was dead the fog cleared and a proper assault took place. Now the Blood Horker pirate clan is no more.

12th of Hearthfire: Ra'Tasha was finally able to track down the mages that ran off with the books from the Mages College, specifically, they were holed up in a keep in Whiterun hold. This one broke into their fortress and slew the lot of them. He is not sure exactly what they were expelled for, but he found many of them experimenting on vampires, which can't be a good thing. At any rate, Ra'Tasha retrieved all three missing books.

As Ra'Tasha was leaving the keep, another dragon swooped down and tried to kill him. This time though, Ra'Tasha was not alone, as a giant happened to be nearby and helped this one by attacking the dragon. Once the beast was dead the giant seemed quite wary of this one, swinging his club and approaching Ra'Tasha. This one lowered his weapon and quickly backed away. The giant seemed to realize this one was no threat because he lowered his club and walked away.

13th of Hearthfire: Once back in Riften, Ra'Tasha began searching the Ratway for Esbern. Some of the deeper areas of the sewer were being patrolled by Thalmor, but they were easy enough to deal with. Soon enough Ra'Tasha found Esbern and was able to convince the man he was trustworthy. Esbern insisted he speak to Delphine immediately and the pair quickly departed. Well, as soon as Esbern was done getting ready. The man seems to have a hard time remembering where he leaves things. 

Before leaving the city, Ra'Tasha stopped by to observe Grelod the kind, headmistress of the orphanage. He was told the woman was cruel, but the blackness of her soul was more than this one ever expected. She was constantly yelling at the children, threatening them with beatings and telling them they would never be adopted. After looking around Ra'Tasha found a small room with shackles bolted to the wall. Shackles that appeared to be used regularly. Ra'Tasha did not hesitate when he got an opportunity to plunge his sword into the cruel woman. He was glad the witch was dead, but Grelod's death had an unexpected result. All the children were jumping up and down, praising the escaped boy that swore he would call upon the Dark Brotherhood to deal justice. Some even seemed as though they might consider joining the organization when they grew up. Ra'Tasha must admit that the Brotherhood can be beneficial, if the target has nothing but malice in their heart.

14th of Hearthfire: Once Esbern was reunited with Delphine, he spoke about something known as Alduin's wall. It seems this wall was carved by the Blades centuries ago beneath their headquarters of Sky Haven Temple, and that it contains their sum knowledge about Alduin and the dragons, both history and prophecy. The trio agreed to split up and arrive at Sky Haven Temple at an agreed upon time, mostly to avoid attracting the attention of the Thalmor. Before leaving, Delphine spoke to her bartender, telling him she was not returning and that the Sleeping Giant Inn now belonged to him.

Ra'Tasha returned to the College of Winterhold with the needed books in tow. The keeper of the Arcanaeum was happy to see them returned. With the books safe once again, Ra'Tasha sat down by the fire and read them at his leisure.

The first book was a record of the Psijic Order, founded before the First Era on Artaeum, one of the Summerset Isles. The Psijics are said to have been the first mortals to use magic, and that their island disappeared for 500 years, then re-appeared without any explanation. The second book was a basic history of the Ayleids, the elves who built White-Gold Tower and enslaved Men until they were overthrown by Alessia, who would later be crowned the first emperor. The third book told of battles fought long ago between Men and Mer for Saarthal. Records from the period suggest there was something buried underneath the ruins that held an incredible power. While in the Arcanaeum, Ra'Tasha also read up on the Draugr he found beneath Saarthal. He found a book telling of a mage king, murdered by his three sons, who were then hunted down and sealed within three separate tombs, each holding a piece of a powerful amulet.

With help from the Arch-Mage, the strange orb found beneath Saarthal had been moved to the College, now being called the Eye of Magnus. We also had an unexpected visitor, a member of the Psijic Order, requesting to speak with Ra'Tasha! Using a powerful spell the mage was able to speak with Ra'Tasha while both Ancano and the Arch-Mage stood still, as though frozen in time. The Psijic warned that the Eye of Magnus would bring great disaster. He also implied that his coming here and interfering was frowned upon by the Order. He also said to find the Augur of Dunlain, then everything returned to normal and the Psijic left the College without explaining why he was there to anyone else. Ancano seemed especially upset by this.

After asking around, Ra'Tasha learned that the Augur of Dunlain was once a student of the College, before some sort of accident, and was now beneath the College. Ra'Tasha found him, er, it, as a floating ball of light. Anyway, the Augur told this one to find the Staff of Magnus, saying it was the only way to control the Eye. It also warned that Ancano had been by to ask it about the Eye, though Ra'Tasha does not doubt he wishes to use the Eye for himself somehow. After a little investigating, Ra'Tasha learned that a group known as the Synod came by a while ago asking about some Dwemer ruins and an oculory within. Apparently the oculory may lead to a powerful magical artefact, perhaps even the very staff Ra'Tasha is seeking.

15th of Hearthfire: Ra'Tasha found the cave with the door the coral claw was supposed to open. Many small wisps of light followed Ra'Tasha's he made his way through the cave, where he was eventually attacked by the ghost of some long dead Nord. He found a nice helmet for his trouble though.

Upon returning to Windhelm, Ra'Tasha soon heard of another murder. It seems the castle Steward was mistaken when he made his arrest and the Butcher was still on the loose. Ra'Tasha began patrolling the streets for any suspicious activity. He also stopped by to inform his young “client” that “The Dark Brotherhood” had killed the headmistress of the Riften orphanage. He seemed quite happy.

16th of Hearthfire: It was a little bit past two o'clock in the morning when Ra'Tasha finally caught a break. He could here some strange noises coming from within the empty house where he had located the journal before. Within the house he found a secret room behind a dresser, and found the Butcher assembling various body parts atop a slab. In the fight that ensued Ra'Tasha took the Butcher's head clean off! That is a move he will have to remember. The Butcher was a Dunmer who ran a shop in town, and after searching his shop Ra'Tasha found another journal. Apparently he was planning on constructing a new body for his dead sister using various parts taken from dead women, then planned on using dark magic to put her soul into the body and reanimate her. At any rate, the Butcher is dead and the court mage has been cleared of all charges.

Ra'Tasha briefly stopped by Whiterun to steal a valuable garnet from a local shop-keeper, on orders from the Thieves Guild. As he was about to leave when he was approached by a courier who had a message for Ra'Tasha. The message had a black imprint of a hand on it and the words “we know” written beneath it. Based on the mark and the way the courier described the sender Ra'Tasha has no doubt this was a message from the Dark Brotherhood regarding this one's actions at the orphanage. The question is, what do they plan to do?

17th of Hearthfire: While in the Ratway, Ra'Tasha asked about some unusual jewels he had come across a few times on his quests. Apparently they are part of a set of 24 jewels that were once embedded in a crown. Not worth much individually, but as a set they would be quite valuable. While in the marketplace this one struck up a conversation with a Dunmer that was apparently raised by Argonians. After talking, he expressed a desire to learn where he really came from. At his behest Ra'Tasha explored the wreck of a ship in the Sea of Ghosts that was of Dunmer origin. Sure enough, within the ship's remains there was a journal detailing how the last remnants of a noble Morrowind House escaped during the Argonian invasion decades ago. Upon returning the journal Ra'Tasha was thanked profusely.

Ra'Tasha also spoke with Maven Black-brier. The woman is every bit as cruel as the rumours say. She wants this one to sabotage a competing meadery that operates out of Whiterun so as to put it out of business.

18th of Hearthfire: After arriving in Whiterun, Ra'Tasha was filled in on the finer details of the plan. The competing meadery has a skeever problem, so this one will lend a hand and poison the nest, then use the leftover poison to taint the mead supply. The plan went smoothly, though guarding the skeever nest was a madman, who, according to his diary, was planning on conquering all of Skyrim with an army of skeevers. Ra'Tasha has heard some crazy stories before, but this one he will not soon forget. The captain of the guard came by for a taste test. The mead did not live up to his expectations and he had the owner thrown in jail. Perusing through the meadery's documents this one found a letter from an unknown source who was supplying the owner with a large sum of money.

In the local tavern Ra'Tasha spoke with a Redguard woman, Saadia, who was being hunted by the Alik'r, a group of Redguard warriors. She claims they are working for the Thalmor and wish her dead for speaking against them. After paying for the release of a captured Alik'r, one who had been abandoned by the others for his failure, Ra'Tasha learned the location of their hideout. He was on his way there when he saw a dragon attacking a giant and a pair of mammoths. Never one to pass up the opportunity to slay a dragon, Ra'Tasha entered the fray and emerged victorious.

19th of Hearthfire: Ra'Tasha found the cave where the Alik'r were hiding. After speaking to their leader he is now uncertain of what to do. They claim that Saadia betrayed a Hammerfell city to the Thalmor for personal gain, and they are to bring her back alive for trial. He wishes for this one to bring Saadia to a stable so that the Alik'r can ambush her. Ra'Tasha does not know who to trust. One of these parties is lying to this Khajiit.

After much thought, this one brought Saadia to the stable as per the instructions. The Alik'r had the chance to cut down Ra'Tasha, but they did not. Instead they were willing to talk out their problems. At the end of the great war Hammerfell broke off from the empire, because the peace treaty declared that Hammerfell would be annexed to the Aldmeri. It is difficult to believe that proud Redguard warriors would side with an enemy that tried to invade their homeland. So Ra'Tasha turned over Saadia to the Alik'r. She was knocked out and carried away. Hopefully Ra'Tasha has done the right thing.

With that business taken care of, Ra'Tasha went to sleep in his house. However, he woke up in a small shack in the middle of nowhere, and he was not alone. There was a woman there who called herself Astrid. She said she was a member of the Dark Brotherhood. Ra'Tasha recognized her name from the note this one found on a dead assassin. She wished to talk about the assassination of Grelod. She was pleased to hear that the woman was dead, but not quite so pleased that Ra'Tasha had effectively stolen business from the Brotherhood. In the room with us were three others, bound and ready to be executed. Ra'Tasha was to kill one or die himself. Part of Astrid's little game. The potential targets were a mercenary, who seemed pleasant enough. Next was a woman who spoke of a husband and children, though she was most unpleasant, always shouting at everyone. Lastly was a Khajiit who proudly admitted to being a slave trader. That made this one's choice much easier. After killing the slaver, Astrid seemed pleased and offered this one a chance to join the Brotherhood, mentioning where their Skyrim headquarters were. Ra'Tasha fears that if he does not accept the offer Astrid will send more assassins after this one.

20th of Hearthfire: While stopping by Falkreath, Ra'Tasha was approached by a dog. A talking dog. Skyrim never ceases to bewilder. The dog introduced himself as Barbos, saying that he had been thrown out by his master after an argument, and asked this one to help reunite the pair. After agreeing to help, this one followed Barbos on a long and winding path through Helgen and into a cavern infested with vampires, before arriving at the alter to the Daedric Prince Clavicus Vile, the “master” Barbos spoke of. After some persuadingm Vile agreed to take Barbos back, on the condition that Ra'Tasha help him retrieve an axe. It seems the two of us will be travelling together for a while.

21st of Hearthfire: At the behest of the keeper of the Arcanaeumm Ra'Tasha was to retrieve a book from a group of giants. Since coming to Skyrim Ra'Tasha has had no unpleasant dealings with the giants, and he has no intention to change that. So this one snuck into the giant's camp and stole the book unseen. They will never know who was responsible for taking their book.

22nd of Hearthfire: Ra'Tasha found the crypt containing the second of the three forbidden siblings. Not far inside this one found the body of an explorer who, based on his journals, had been seeking the parts of the amulet for some time. He was also in possession of an ivory claw that was required to move further into the tomb. With some help from Barbos the two of us were able to slay the second of the brothers. Ra'Tasha must say that Barbos is an excellent fighter, though he has no concept of personal space.

23rd of Hearthfire: Ra'Tasha now enters the third forbidden crypt in hopes of finding the last piece of the amulet. Inside, he found the long dead corpse of the mage who sealed the brothers away in the first place. The third brother did have some magic spells that allowed him to teleport and summon copies of himself, but in the end his fate was no different than that of his brothers.

24th of Hearthfire: After weeks of looking, Ra'Tasha found the tomb where Olaf's lost verse was said to be. Before this one could enter, a dragon attacked. The battle was hard and things were not looking good, but then the dragon seemed to lose interest in Ra'Tasha and began attacking something else on the other side of a ridge. A group of three Imperial soldiers had gained the dragon's attention, and though two of them died, their attacks were enough to allow Ra'Tasha to plunge many arrows into the dragon, eventually felling it. 

Inside the tomb, Ra'Tasha found a ruby dragon claw, and was led through the caverns by a ghost, likely the spirit of the Bard that wrote the verse in the first place. Eventually, the pair met with King Olaf himself, or more accurately, his re-animated corpse. The two spirits seemed to have some unfinished business, but after a battle the king returned to being dead, and the ghost departed this world. Left alone, Ra'Tasha was able to locate the lost verse of King Olaf.

25th of Hearthfire: Ra'Tasha returned King Olaf's verse to the college, though several lines had become unreadable due to the age of the paper. After some quick thinking the bard and Ra'Tasha were able to improvise and fill in the blanks. With the verse completed it was read in front of the Jarl and she agreed to let the effigy burning continue.

While in town Ra'Tasha had been asked to speak with an Argonian named Gulum-Ei, the Thieves Guild's contact within the East Empire Company. It seems he has helped broker the sale of Maven's honey farm, and acted as a go between the owner of Maven's Whiterun based competitor and his source of money. It took some doing, but eventually Gulum-Ei confessed that the one pulling the strings was a woman named Karliah. Apparently this Karliah was responsible for the death of the previous head of the guild, and still wanted to cause more trouble for the organization.

26th of Hearthfire: Today was the ceremonial “Burning of King Olaf.” The celebration was enjoyable and all in attendance were in high spirits. During the ceremony Ra'Tasha was accepted into the college as a full fledged bard.

27th of Hearthfire: While en route to the cavern where Clavicus Vile's axe was hidden, Ra'Tasha passed by the Thalmor embassy. Not much farther down the road he was attacked by a group of Thalmor Justicars. Every time this one has a run in with the Thalmor he finds he dislikes them more and more.

At any rate, Ra'Tasha found the axe with little problem and soon returned it to Clavicus Vile. With some persuading, the Daedric Prince took back Barbos as well as the axe. For his trouble Ra'Tasha was given a mask by the Prince of Bargains.

28th of Hearthfire: Though Ra'Tasha is not certain this is a good idea, he has made his way to the Dark Brotherhood sanctuary. He is sure that if he does not accept their offer, they will have him killed. Though, after all his time spent in Skyrim, Ra'Tasha has realized that much good can come from an assassination, so long as the target has a black heart.

Ra'Tasha was introduced to several members of the organization, including Arnbjorn, Astrid's husband, who happens to be a werewolf, Babette, a vampire who appears to be a little girl, yet is hundreds of years old, and a Redguard named Nazir, who gave this one three contracts to carry out. Ra'Tasha does not have an issue with killing someone who deserves it, he just hopes no-one on his list is being targeted for something mundane.

At the request of the Companions, Ra'Tasha investigated a cave that was said to be haunted. Indeed, when he entered the cave this one found it full of ghosts. With a little effort Ra'Tasha cleared the cave of the undead spirits and let their souls rest in piece.

29th of Hearthfire: After weeks of wandering all around Skyrim, Ra'Tasha has all three pieces of the forbidden amulet and found the cave where it was forged. The alter was behind a door that only opened with an emerald dragon claw, one which a dead adventurer was carrying with him. At the alter Ra'Tasha met and the fought off the ghosts of the three brothers one by one. At the end of it all he believes he saw the spirit of the mage who sealed them away in the first place. Regardless, Ra'Tasha now has the completed amulet in is possession.

30th of Hearthfire: Ra'Tasha arrived in Ivarstead with a Dark Brotherhood contract on an old beggar. It seems that he was living in a broken down ramshackle house about a year ago with his sister, then she suddenly disappeared. Now the beggar is a total mess. Ra'Tasha does not find this death pleasant, but hopes the man will be happier on the other side. Perhaps he will see his sister again.

Returning to Whiterun, Ra'Tasha was asked to meet the Companion's Guild Circle underneath the Skyforge for something important, though this one does not know what. Ra'Tasha was asked to find a missing Stormcloak by his worried family. After some breaking and entering Ra'Tasha found proof he was being held at the Thalmor Embassy. Ra'Tasha will enjoy tearing through the Thalmor on this rescue mission.

Underneath the Skyforge Ra'Tasha was invited into the Circle of the Companions. He was offered the chance to drink the blood of a werewolf, thus becoming one. In this instance the werewolf in question is Aela. Ra'Tasha asked for a moment to consider this offer, but he eventually decided to accept. He is now ready to complete the ritual and become a werewolf.

1st of Frostfall: Ra'Tasha awoke in the wilderness naked and trembling. He recalls the shooting pains that accompanied his first transformation, then running about as a wolf. The blood was still rushing through his veins by this point, along with an amazing appetite. Aela was there, now back in human form, and wished to attack a Silver Hand outpost as an initiation. Another member of the Circle had run on ahead. Still energized from the transformation Ra'Tasha stormed the cave naked and howling, using only his claws and his Thu'um to lay waste to the Werewolf hunters. Inside we found several werewolf corpses, including one that belonged to the Companion who ran in ahead of us.

2nd of Frostfall: At the request of his family, Ra'Tasha went north to free a Stormcloak from his Thalmor prison. On his way there, Ra'Tasha had to deal with another dragon. This one seemed intent on battling a white sabre cat. Ra'Tasha attacked both parties and was able to kill them after they had wounded each other. Afterwards, Ra'Tasha happily stormed the Thalmor fortress and used his Thu'um to blow several guards off its roof. This one then went inside, slaying all the remaining Thalmor in the prison and freed the Stormcloak. He instructed this one to go to Whiterun and tell his mother that he was safe.

3rd of Frostfall: Before returning to Whiterun, Ra'Tasha stopped by Dawnstar to kill a rather acerbic woman on behalf of the Dark Brotherhood. This woman had ownership of a mine in town, competing against her ex-husband, who runs another mine not far away. Now her ex-husband wants her dead. Ra'Tasha does not enjoy these killings, but he knows that if he refused the Dark Brotherhood would have him hunted down and skinned, then do the killing anyways.

4th of Frostfall: Ra'Tasha returned to the Thieves guild and spoke to Mercer Frey about this Karliah. It seems the two were once partners, until Karliah murdered the previous leader of the guild, a man named Gallus. Mercer believes Karliah is hiding in Snow Veil Sanctum, the very place where his predecessor was killed.

5th of Frostfall: Ra'Tasha made his way to the cave where Sky Haven Temple was thought to be hidden. As he was passing through a Forsworn camp just outside the cavern, a dragon appeared. During the battle Ra'Tasha was aided by Delphine and Esbern, drawn by the battle with the dragon. It was a long fight as the trio fought against both Forsworn and dragon, but in the end these ones were victorious.

Ra'Tasha and the others eventually came upon Sky Haven Temple, located behind a seal that could only be broken with a sample of this one's blood. So Ra'Tasha had to slice open his hand. Yay. Inside these ones found the wall of Alduin and Esbern told of what it says.

Long ago, the dragons, led by Alduin, came from Akavir and ruled over the Men of this land. There was an uprising, and a group of heroes used a special Thu'um to defeat Alduin. Esbern told that centuries later, warriors from Akavir would come searching for one who could use the Thu'um as the dragons do. Eventually, a Dragonborn was found in a man named Reman Cyrodiil. Cyrodiil would later go on to become emperor and the Akavir warriors became the Blades. The wall then went on to say that one day Alduin would return and bring with him the end of the world. Neither Esbern nor Ra'Tasha knows anything about this Thu'um that the wall tells of, but if anyone in all of Tamriel does it would be the Greybeards.

6th of Frostfall: Ra'Tasha climbed to High Hrothgar once again and spoke with the Greybeards. Initially they seemed reluctant to help this one, believing that if the end of the world was upon us, they had no right to stop it. Eventually however, they agreed to help Ra'Tasha. The Thu'um used during the uprising is known as Dragonrend, though the Greybeards say it was lost long ago. The only one who may know more about the Thu'um is Paarthurnax, the oldest and wisest of their order, who resides at the very peak of the Throat of the World. They taught this one a shout to summon clear skies and calm weather, as the path to the summit is usually covered by a severe storm.

After climbing to the top of the Throat of the World, Ra'Tasha finally spoke with Paarthurnax who, as it turns out, is a dragon. He seemed like a nice enough fellow, and the two of us spoke for quite some time. Paarthurnax even taught this one a new Thu'um. It seems Paarthurnax was the dragon who first taught mortals how to use the Thu'um centuries ago during the war, turning against Alduin to help mortal man. Eventually we spoke of the Dragonrend shout and Alduin's defeat. Sadly, Paarthurnax never learned the shout himself and seems to suggest that a dragon cannot actually use the shout. From what he said, the Dragonrend shout was made by mortals and is based upon the concept of mortality. Either it renders a dragon mortal, or makes them susceptible to time. Something like that, he wasn't exactly sure. Paarthurnax also spoke of an Elder Scroll being used against Alduin. It seems the Thu'um and the scroll used together opened a hole in time and flung Alduin into it, causing him to emerge now in the present. That is why Paarthurnax resides atop the Throat of the World, it was the location of the battle against Alduin and of the time wound. Paarthurnax believes that with the Elder Scroll it would be possible for this one to see back in time to when the hole in time was created, and see the Dragonrend shout being used against Alduin. Of course, Ra'Tasha would first have to find the Elder Scroll.

Ra'Tasha returned to the College of Winterhold to study up on the Elder Scrolls. He also delivered a few books and scrolls he had found to the Arcanum. Ra'Tasha read up on everything relating to the Elder Scrolls he could find. He already knew the scrolls contain records of all history, both of the past and of the future. The majority of the Scrolls were kept in White-Gold Tower in Cyrodiil, though the scroll he is looking for most likely still lies in Skyrim. There are tales of ones reading one of the Elder Scrolls and going blind, or mad. Ra'Tasha hopes neither will happen to him. The books were of little help, but Ra'Tasha does have a lead. It seems the College's expert on the Elder Scrolls, a man named Septimus Signus, has been missing for some time after leaving to study the Dwemer. If Ra'Tasha can find him he may be able to help. Though after reading one of the books he has written, it would not surprise this one to find him slightly out of his mind.

It has been a long few days and Ra'Tasha has had little time to relax, so before he sets out again he will stop by the Winterhold tavern and have an enjoyable night of mead and song.

7th of Frostfall: Ra'Tasha is not sure where to begin. He remembers being challenged to a drinking contest by a man named Sam last night. This morning he found himself in a Temple of Dibella, in Markarth. He does not have any idea what happened last night, but one of the attendants at the temple said I was raving about a goat and a wedding. Last night must have been a crazy one. Ra'Tasha has no idea where Sam is, though apparently he also made mention of Rorikstead in his drunken ramblings. He intends to go there and find out what happened last night.

While still in the Reach, Ra'Tasha came upon a camp full of Forsworn. After fighting them off he found the priest of Boethiah that Molag Bal sent him to look for so many weeks ago. After freeing him and telling him the situation he insisted on returning to the house to speak with Molag Bal personally.

8th of Frostfall: As Ra'Tasha entered Rorikstead, the town came under attack by a dragon. A dragon, which Ra'Tasha helped defeat. After investigating into his antics from that night, he learned that he apparently stole a goat from a farmer and sold it to a giant. It took a few hours, but eventually Ra'Tasha was able to steal the goat back from the giant without getting either himself or the goat killed. According to the farmer, this one planned to use the money to pay a merchant in Whiterun whose ring he had apparently already purchased.

Upon returning to Whiterun, Ra'Tasha spoke to the merchant he apparently bought the ring from. After paying for his purchase, she told how Ra'Tasha proposed to someone while intoxicated and that the wedding ceremony is to take place in Morvunskar. Sam is to be the best man, so Ra'Tasha hopes to find him there. All Ra'Tasha could learn about the bride was the she apparently lives in Witch Mist Grove.

Ra'Tasha thought it would be best if he spoke to his fiancée before the wedding to straighten things out. He will likely have to break off the marriage, although it is possible he found a lovely, caring woman who is willing to settle down and start a family with this one. Upon finding Witch Mist Grove, Ra'Tasha met his fiancée, and learned she is a hagraven. One who wants to consummate our relationship. When Ra'Tasha refused she became quite angry and a fight broke out. Things became rather bloody. Now Ra'Tasha is single once again.

9th of Frostfall: Ra'Tasha found this Morvunskar to be overrun by hostile mages. Eventually he was able to fight his way past them and suddenly found himself in a beautiful grove. Sam was present with a number of dinner guests. When Ra'Tasha asked what had happened that night, Sam revealed himself to be the Daedric Prince Sanguine, lord of wine, gluttony and debauchery. It seems he was playing a prank on Ra'Tasha that night, though as a sign of good will he offered this one an artefact known as the Sanguine rose. The next thing Ra'Tasha knew he was back in the Winterhold tavern where this whole ordeal began. Ra'Tasha does not intend to do any drinking for the next while.

10th of Frostfall: Ra'Tasha trudged north through the ice flows of the Sea of Ghosts, swimming through ice cold water until he found the cavern where Septimus Signus was staying, kept company only by a large cube of Dwemer design. Sure enough, he spoke almost entirely in thick metaphors and generally behaved eccentrically. He eventually confided in this one that, sometime after the defeat of Alduin, the Dwemer acquired the Elder Scroll, and it is most likely still being kept in Blackreach, a Dwemer city. He also gave this one a cube of Dwemer origin that he called a lexicon, which he said would be necessary for finding the scroll.

It took hours of travelling down through Flamer infested tunnels, but Ra'Tasha eventually came to Blackreach, a giant cavern large enough to fit a dozen cities inside. Eventually he came across a large Dwemer oculory that sprung to life as soon as the Dwemer lexicon was inserted into a slot. After some flipping of switches the oculory opened up to reveal the Elder Scroll to Ra'Tasha.

11th of Frostfall: Ra'Tasha found the third Dark Brotherhood contract he had been sent after. His target is a man hiding in a tent on the outskirts of one small town fearing for his life. Ra'Tasha wonders what he did to invoke the wrath of the Brotherhood. He hopes it was something to justify his death. At any rate he no longer has anything to fear.

After another long journey through the ice flows of the Sea of Ghosts, Ra'Tasha returned the lexicon to Septimus. It seems the lexicon acts as a key to this Dwemer construct he found called a lockbox. However, the key can only be activated with Dwemer blood, and they are long extinct. Septimus did suggest that if the blood of the other elf races were mixed together it might act to fool the lock. When asked why he was doing all this Septimus admitted he was working for Hermaeus Mora, the Daedric Prince of forbidden knowledge. As Ra'Tasha was leaving, he was contacted by the prince and he offered this one a reward for his help. Ra'Tasha does not doubt he will come across numerous elf corpses before he is done so he will at least do that much.

While passing through Dawnstar, Ra'Tasha was present for the opening of a new museum in town, apparently dedicated to the Mythic Dawn, the Mehrunes Dagon-worshipping cult that killed the emperor and started the Oblivion crisis. The owner asked Ra'Tasha to find three pieces of Mehrunes' razor, a powerful artefact that belongs to the Daedric Prince of destruction.

Ra'Tasha went to meet up with his Stormcloak brethren, specifically a group that had been sent out on a retrieval mission. However, on his way there he was attacked by a dragon and once again a giant was present to aid Ra'Tasha in his battle. At any rate Ra'Tasha found his comrades and we began an assault on a tomb that was said to hold the Jagged Crown, an old relic made of dragon bones and traditionally worn by the king of Skyrim. The Imperials had already arrived before us, but they could not stop us. There was also an ebony dragon claw inside the cave that Ra'Tasha picked up. After fighting our way through Imperial soldiers and Draugr we claimed our prize. Soon Ulfric Stormcloak was in possession of the Jagged Crown.

12th of Frostfall: After stopping by the Bard's College in Solitude, Ra'Tasha was approached by an Argonian with a proposition. He asked this one to put out the lighthouse and cause a ship to run aground so that it may easily be looted. Ra'Tasha only agreed since the Argonian insisted the crew would be left unharmed. When Ra'Tasha arrived at the site of the shipwreck he found all the crew dead and the Argonian's sister waiting to kill this one. Ra'Tasha killed her and her associates, then made his way back to their hideout to hunt down their leader and get his share of the gold. It is regretful that things turned out his way, but these siblings will never try to make a fool of Ra'Tasha again.

After that ordeal was concluded, Ra'Tasha's curiosity got the batter of him and he took a look at the Elder Scroll in his possession. The moment he tried to read it he was blinded and could not see again for a solid minute.

13th of Frostfall: While passing through Markarth, Ra'Tasha stopped by the house that was inhabited by Molag Bal. The freed priest of Boethiah was present and challenged Bal openly. Then Molag Bal had this one beat the old man to death with his mace. The priest was brought back to life again and again until he submitted. Now his soul belongs to Molag Bal. Ra'Tasha felt terrible about the whole thing, but he'd rather not make an enemy of the King of Rape.

14th of Frostfall: Ra'Tasha returned to the Dark Brotherhood sanctuary with his assignments completed. While he was there he met a jester named Cicero, who was not right in the head. It seems he smuggled the Night Mother's corpse out of Cyrodiil and brought it here. The Night Mother being the one who founded the Dark Brotherhood in the first place.

In Falkreath, Ra'Tasha spoke to a prisoner being held for the murder of a small girl. It seems he is a werewolf like Ra'Tasha. He says he stole a ring from the Daedric Prince Hircine that was supposed to help him control his transformations. Unfortunately, by stealing the ring, he upset Hircine, who put a curse on it, making the man transform at the worst times, such as when he killed the girl. He gave this one the ring and said the curse may be removed by killing a unique white stag not far from town.

Ra'Tasha found and killed the white stag, only for its spirit to get up and talk to him. It seems the stag was Hircine in disguise. He asked this one to kill the werewolf, who had just escaped from prison. Hircine also mentioned other hunters would be after the same prey. Ra'Tasha found the werewolf being hunted in a cave, but could not bring himself to kill him. The cursed ring activated and the two of us quickly slew all the would be hunters. Afterwards, Hircine came to this one, pleased that he out witted the hunters and removed the curse on the ring.

As Ra'Tasha was leaving the cave he was attacked by another dragon. This time help came from an unexpected source, a group of Thalmor Justicars. We slew the dragon, but then Ra'Tasha learned the Thalmor were transporting a prisoner to be executed for Talos worship. Ra'Tasha killed the Thalmor and set the man free. If anyone asks, the dragon ate them.

15th of Frostfall: A momentous day. With the Elder Scroll in his possession Ra'Tasha opened it atop the time wound. The next thing he knew he was floating in the air without his body. He bore witness to three warriors do battle with Alduin using the shout Dragonrend. The shout seemed to weaken Alduin, forcing him to land and rendering his otherwise impenetrable hide vulnerable to attack. After one of them fell, another, an old man, held aloft the Elder Scroll and used it's power to banish Alduin. After that the vision concluded.

Ra'Tasha did not have long to relax however, as Alduin, likely brought by the disturbance in the time wound, descended upon this one. A long and gruelling battle was fought as Ra'Tasha and Paarthurnax fought against Alduin. Eventually, Alduin was defeated and flew off, though he did refer to himself as the firstborn of Akatosh. Perhaps the Nordic legends were mistaken and Akatosh and Alduin are two completely separate individuals.

Regardless, Paarthurnax suggested this one now go on the offensive. He wishes for Ra'Tasha to set a trap for a dragon so that we might interrogate him about Alduin's plan. To accomplish this, Ra'Tasha is to go to Dragonsreach in Whiterun and ask the Jarl to use his castle to imprison a dragon once again.

16th of Frostfall: In recent years the Blades have suffered heavy loses and almost none remain. That is why Ra'Tasha has been asked to look for new recruits. So, while he was passing through Riften, he spoke with Marcurio, a mage skilled in shock magic who was offering his services at the Bee and Barb. Ra'Tasha decided to bring him along with him to see what he is capable of.

After arriving in Windhelm, Ra'Tasha delivered the Jagged Crown to Ulfric Stormcloak. In return he asked this one to deliver an ax to the Jarl of Whiterun. He says that the Jarl will understand the message.

17th of Frostfall: Entering into another set of Dwemer ruins, Ra'Tasha was greeted by a dying man who, judging by his robes, is a member of the Synod, some mage group operating out of Cyrodiil. After trudging through more Dwemer contraptions and Falmer, Ra'Tasha met the one survivor of the expedition, who was hiding out in the oculory room. He said they had brought a special focusing crystal from Cyrodiil to place in the oculory. A crystal that Ra'Tasha had found on one of the dead Falmer. After inserting it into the oculory, a map of Tamriel appeared with two locations marked. One was a set place called Labyrinthian here in Skyrim, the other, larger one, pointed to the Mages College. Upon seeing this, the Synod concluded the college was holding a powerful magical artefact and ran off. Knowing that the Eye of Magnus was in the college, Ra'Tasha knew the other point on the map had to be where the Staff was kept.

18th of Frostfall: After seeing what Marcurio was capable of, Ra'Tasha brought him to Sky Haven Temple to see if he might be initiated into the Blades. Ra'Tasha found Delphine and Esbern on a mountaintop courtyard overlooking the area. Before he could speak with them however, a dragon attacked us. Of course with four warriors fighting back the dragon stood no chance. After the dragon was slain, Ra'Tasha introduced Marcurio to Delphine and told him of his skill in magic and his knowledge of ancient cultures and ruins. She agreed to allow him to take the oath and formerly join the organization. Esbern approached Ra'Tasha with a request. He had learned that Paarthurnax was the leader of the Greybeards and told Ra'Tasha to slay him. It seems that before he turned against Alduin, Paarthurnax was his second in command. The Blades want to see his blood run free, but Ra'Tasha knows that without his help, mortals would still be slaves of the dragons. Besides, Paarthurnax has helped Ra'Tasha in his quest, and this one does not intend to repay kindness with a bade in the throat.

19th of Frostfall: Ra'Tasha delivered Ulfric's axe to the Jarl of Whiterun. After some deep thought he asked this one to return it. Sadly Ra'Tasha does not quite understand if the gesture means he is joining Ulfric's campaign or not.

20th of Frostfall: Ra'Tasha returned Ulfric's axe to him. Ulfric was most displeased by this answer. After much consideration, and some prodding by Galmar, the Jarl gave instructions that the Stormcloaks were to march on Whiterun.

Before returning to Whiterun, Ra'Tasha has business to settle with Mercer Frey. He met Ra'Tasha outside the ruins where he had finally cornered Karliah. With any luck we will be able to capture the flight-footed thief and put an end to her troublemaking.

20th of Frostfall: Ra'Tasha has had an interesting night. After finding a dragon claw door, which Mercer was able to open, Ra'Tasha was struck with an arrow that paralysed him. He then bore witness to the confrontation between Mercer and Karliah. Among other things, Mercer admitted to killing Gallus and framing Karliah for it. Apparently the three of them were “Nightingales.” Whatever that means. Karliah then disappeared and Mercer stabbed Ra'Tasha, who then passed out.

When Ra'Tasha awoke he was greeted by Karliah. It seems the paralysing poison slowed his blood flow enough that he did not bleed to death before he could be healed. Now, feeling comfortable trusting Karliah, she handed this one Gallus' journal, which should clear her name and prove Mercer was the killer. Unfortunately, the journal was written in some foreign language. She sent this one to Winterhold to seek out a friend of Gallus' who could translate it.

21st of Frostfall: While walking about Whiterun Hold, Ra'Tasha met a Nord man by the name of Golldir who had a problem. Specifically, a Dunmer necromancer had broken into his family's tomb and was practicing, well, necromancy. His aunt apparently ran in ahead and he was too scared to follow since, according to him, he was once locked inside the tomb by his father the day he left him. It was three days before someone found him. If that had happened to Ra'Tasha he'd be afraid of this place too. The two of us cleared out the tomb of Draugrs and stopped the necromancer, though Golldir's aunt was dead when we came upon her.

22nd of Frostfall: After some thought Ra'Tasha brought Golldir to Sky Haven Temple to introduce to Delphine. With his aunt dead he has no family, and after the events in the tomb Ra'Tasha feels he will work twice as hard as other Blades just to prove to himself he's not a coward.

23rd of Frostfall: Ra'Tasha found the man Karliah had sent him after, and though he was able to discern that the journal was written in the language of the Falmer, he could not translate it. However, he did tell Ra'Tasha of a man in Markarth who could.

Next, Ra'Tasha went to the college to report his findings to the Arch-mage. Unfortunately, when he arrived he found the college in chaos. Ancano had erected a barrier around the Eye of Magnus and was casting some sort of spell on it. It took three of us just to breach the barrier. Ra'Tasha saw the Arch-mage approach Ancano, then there was a massive explosion. When Ra'Tasha awoke the Arch-mage was dead and Ancano was behind another barrier. On top of all that, Winterhold was now under attack. Not by dragons, but by these strange balls of what seemed to be magical fire. The members of the college were able to stop them all, but it was only a small victory. If Ra'Tasha does not find the eye of Magnus soon, well, he doesn’t really know exactly what will happen. He just knows it will be bad.

24th of Frostfall: Today the first major battle of the War for Skyrim was fought, for today the Stormcloaks marched on Whiterun. Many guards stood in our way, but once we had breached the city walls this one did his best to make his way to the keep as quickly as possible to confront the Jarl. After wounding the Jarl and convincing him the battle was lost, he surrendered and left the castle. The new acting Jarl is Vignar Gray-mane, oldest and wisest of the Companions.

25th of Frostfall: While in the Bannered Mare, Ra'Tasha was challenged to a fistfight by a Nord woman called Uthgerd. Ra'Tasha won of course. The two of us got talking afterward and Uthgerd told of how she tried to join the Companions, but accidentally killed another fighter during her initiation and was thrown out. She seems to be able to handle a sword well so Ra'Tasha invited her along on his quest.

While exploring, these two came across a Bosmer wounded outside a cavern. It seems he and a few of his friends chased a bear inside and were ambushed by spriggans. This one tended to his wounds and offered to help, but before anything could be done a dragon appeared overhead. These three worked together to slay the dragon, then cleared out the spriggans inside the cave.

26th of Frostfall: Hearing about a word of power in a place called Sunderstone Gorge, Ra'Tasha and Uthgerd entered inside. The place was crawling with necromancers, but these two were able to find what they were looking for.

Afterward, Ra'Tasha took Uthgerd to Sky Haven Temple, the last of his recruits for the organization. She seemed eager to prove herself in combat and seemed in need of a cause worth fighting for.

27th of Frostfall: Ra'Tasha stopped by Morthal to retrieve the first piece of Mehrunes' Razor, specifically the hilt. It was a simple matter of donating some gold to the family that has been watching over it.

28th of Frostfall: Ra'Tasha arrived in Markarth to speak with this expert on the Falmer language. It seems he is also an expert on the Dwemer, and is opening a museum dedicated to them. He would not willing give up his notes on the Falmer language, so Ra'Tasha had to break into the museum and find what he needed etched onto a stone tablet, which he then copied. Before leaving town, Ra'Tasha was asked to investigate some strange happening in the halls of the dead. Specifically, it seems that someone or something had snuck inside and was eating the corpses. When he entered he was confronted by a group of cannibals who seemed to follow Namira, Daedric Lord of ancient darkness and decay. They left quietly enough, but invited this one to help her clear out a cavern full of Draugr not far from town.

Next, Ra'Tasha met a client for the Dark Brotherhood, specifically a woman who wants a bandit leader slain for wooing her so he could get close to a wealthy family she associated with. After that Ra'Tasha set off for the location of Mehrunes' pummel stone, last thought to be atop one of the peaks. He knew this would be a long journey, so he hired a man hanging around the local bar to help him. It was a difficult climb, and these two had to kill a lot of Forsworn, but eventually we found the stone in the possession of Hagraven, who these two killed.

29th of Frostfall: The last known piece of Mehrunes' Razor was in an old fortress in Falkreath Hold, now occupied by a band of Orc bandits. The two of us made our way through them and found the pieces that were once the blade of Mehrunes Razor. As these two were leaving the fortress, another dragon attacked. Ra'Tasha is losing count of how many of the darn things he has slain. Afterwards, Ra'Tasha and his friend parted ways.

30th of Frostfall: Finally back in Dawnstar, Ra'Tasha gave the pieces of Mehrunes' Razor to the curator of the Mythic Dawn museum. He now intends to visit the shrine to Dagon and ask him to put the Razor back together.

Ra'Tasha had heard people speak of a particular giant that was causing trouble for the Pale. Though Ra'Tasha had not personally had any bad experiences with giants, he knows they can't all be good. After telling the Jarl how he slew the giant, he recognized Ra'Tasha as the one who helped stop the nightmares in Dawnstar and proclaimed this one a Thane.

31st of Frostfall: At the request of the Jarl of Winterhold, Ra'Tasha recovered the long lost Helm of Winterhold for him. For his bravery Ra'Tasha was given the title Thane of Winterhold.

1st of Sun's Dusk: In his travels Ra'Tasha has collected blood samples from each of the races of Mer. Now he has returned the blood samples to Septimus Signus and watched as he opened the old Dwemer lockbox. Inside there lay a book upon a pedestal. When Septimus reached out to touch it, he was turned to ash, but the book called out to Ra'Tasha and he picked it up. Hermaeus Mora spoke to this one and said he was pleased that his ancient tome was once again in the hands of mortals. When Ra'Tasha read from the book he suddenly found that he knew a great many things, mostly regarding magic spells and the like.

When Jarl Balgruuf fled from Whiterun he left his children behind. One of whom had apparently been speaking with a mysterious stranger behind a locked door. When Ra'Tasha listened at the door he could hear whispers. Whispers that introduced themselves as the Daedric Prince Mephala, the Webspinner, Lady of Whispers and Lord of Deceit. She asked this one to open the door, a simple enough task since Ra'Tasha is a skilled pickpocket and had no trouble lifting the key of the court mage. Inside, Ra'Tasha found a long curved sword that Mephala referred to as the Ebony Blade. Clearly this is what she had been speaking through. She asked this one to return the sword to its full power by “staining it with the blood of treachery.” Ra'Tasha stuffed it in his chest with all his other weapons.

2nd of Sun's Dusk: Ra'Tasha stopped by Riften and spoke to the Jarl about purchasing a house in the city. After all the help Ra'Tasha has provided her the Jarl not only allowed me to purchase the house, but also granted this one the title of Thane of the Rift. The house itself can be accessed from both the part of the city inside the wall and from the docks. The house is small, but has a rather spacious basement. Ra'Tasha was also granted a housecarl, who will probably spend more time in the house than Ra'Tasha.

3rd of Sun's Dusk: Another giant was wanted, this time in Eastmarch. Ra'Tasha went to slay the giant, but a dragon attacked us both in the middle of battle. Since Ra'Tasha is writing this you can guess who won the fight.

4th of Sun's Dusk: While stopping by Falkreath, Ra'Tasha spoke to the Jarl, who insisted he be brought a bottle of expensive mead before allowing Ra'Tasha an audience. Once Ra'Tasha brought the mead, he then he insisted that this one go and slay some bandits. Bandits which had apparently once given the Jarl a cut of their profits, but had recently stopped. The way the Jarl openly admitted to having a business arrangement with bandits, it rubbed Ra'Tasha the wrong way. In gratitude, the Jarl begrudgingly granted Ra'Tasha the title of Thane of Falkreath.

5th of Sun's Dusk: While in the local tavern, Ra'Tasha spoke to a Jarl's uncle who said that he was once the Jarl himself, until the Empire backed his nephew, believing him to be more sympathetic to their goals. After talking, he told Ra'Tasha that one of his ancestors had risen from the grave as a vampire and asked this one to slay him. So Ra'Tasha began climbing the mountain where the vampire den was supposed to be atop of. Ra'Tasha departed just after the stroke of midnight mind you. Perhaps one day Ra'Tasha will clear out a vampire den during the daytime, though that would require planning ahead. At any rate all the vampires and their pack of pet wolves have now been slain.

Ra'Tasha was asked to help his old friend Ralof, as he lead an attack on Fort Neugrad as part of our campaign to liberate Falkreath. Ra'Tasha swam through a tunnel connecting a nearby lake with the caves under the fort. Next, Ra'Tasha freed the captured prisoners and opened the front gate to allow our Stormcloak brethren inside the fortress. Now Falkreath is loyal to the Stormcloaks and the spoiled Jarl has been replaced with his uncle, who will certainly do a better job of running things than his nephew.

6th of Sun's Dusk: While visiting the Temple to Kynareth in Whiterun, Ra'Tasha was asked by the priestess to recover some sap from a tree called the Eldergleam, so that it may be transplanted into the dying Gildergreen tree in the center of town. The Eldergleam tree was giant and the surrounding area was the picture of natural beauty, but when Ra'Tasha took the sap a group of Spriggans ran wild. Ra'Tasha returned the sap however, and the Gildergreen tree has never looked healthier.

7th of Sun's Dusk: After reporting our success in Falkreath to Ulfric, he happily named Ra'Tasha Thane of Eastmarch and offered this one a Housecarl, as well as allowing him to buy a house in town. Specifically the house once used by the Butcher. Ra'Tasha is not bothered by this though, as it is a very large and spacious house. Besides, Ra'Tasha has killed ghosts before, so if the Butcher comes back for revenge, this one will send him packing.

8th of Sun's Dusk: Ra'Tasha was able to track down the bandit leader he had been asked to eliminate for his Dark Brotherhood contract. He offered little resistance and died quickly.

9th of Sun's Dusk: The next leg of the Stormcloak campaign involved liberating the Reach. First Ra'Tasha was asked to speak with the Jarl's steward and convince him to help our cause, or have evidence of his Talos worship brought to light. He told Ra'Tasha of a caravan filled with weapons and gold that was passing through the area. Before the day was out the caravan was in Stormcloak possession.

With that taken care of, the next order of business was an all out assault on Fort Sungrad. There was no sneaking in this time. Just an all out battle against the Imperials. Ra'Tasha has never seen so many people lose their lives in one day. At any rate, the Jarl of the Reach offered surrender when threatened with Stormcloaks marching into Markarth.

10th of Sun's Dusk: Ra'Tasha finally got around to investigating some strange sightings at a cavern in Haafingar. When investigating the source, Ra'Tasha found a group of necromancers who were holding some ceremony to resurrect someone called the Wolf Queen. Ra'Tasha does not know enough about magic to stop the ritual any other way, so he just killed all the necromancers.

11th of Sun's Dusk: At the request of the Jarl of Haafingar, Ra'Tasha took a horn that once belonged to her late husband and laid it to rest at a shrine to Talos in the wilderness. While the Jarl does not worship Talos, her husband did. Of course, since that peace treaty with the Thalmor was signed, no one in the Empire is allowed to worship Talos openly, so she had to be discreet about the entire affair. This is the reason Ra'Tasha is fighting with the Stormcloaks. That and so he can kick the Thalmor out of Skyrim for good.

12th of Sun's Dusk: Ra'Tasha visited the newly appointed Jarl of the Reach, a member of the Silver-Blood family. As a reward for Ra'Tasha's service in bringing the Reach under Stormcloak rule, he was granted the title of Thane and allowed to purchase a house within Markarth. Now Ra'Tasha is Thane of every hold except for Haafingar. Ra'Tasha's new house is actually a hall that has been carved into the stone surrounding the city. Much like every other “house” in Markarth.

13th of Sun's Dusk: Today the liberation of Hjaalmarch began. Ra'Tasha was tasked with tracking down and intercepting a courier carrying orders for the Imperial soldiers. Once he was dealt with Ra'Tasha altered the message to draw soldiers away from our target of fort Snowhawk and delivered the message to the captain.

14th of Sun's Dusk: The attack on fort Snowhawk went smoothly. Thanks to Ra'Tasha's cunning the fortress did not receive reinforcements and fell to our might. Once word of their defeat reached the Jarl of Hjaalmarch promptly surrendered.

15th of Sun's Dusk: With the civil war in a lull, Ra'Tasha went to speak to the Jarl of Whiterun, hoping to enact the plan to capture a dragon. After some convincing, he relented. With that accomplished, Ra'Tasha went back to the Throat of the World to speak with Paarthurnax. He knew of a dragon named Odahviing, who seems to have become Alduin's new right hand. Ra'Tasha learned that every dragon's name is also a shout, and that using said shout could call a dragon from far away. Paarthurnax believes Odahviing will hear the shout and come to challenge the dragonborn in battle.

16th of Sun's Dusk: With the situation in Winterhold growing more desperate than ever, Ra'Tasha dove into the ruins of Labyrinthian. Once inside, he saw after-images of a group of college mages making their way into the ruins looking for magical artefacts. As they went along, their numbers dwindled. One of them Ra'Tasha recognized as a younger version of the Arch-mage. In the deepest part of Labyrinthian Ra'Tasha found an old dragon priest clutching the Staff of Magnus. After a hard fought battle Ra'Tasha relieved him of the staff, and also took a mask the priest had been wearing that pulsed with magical energies. He saw the ghost of the old Arch-mage leaving alone, apparently having awoken the dragon priest and sacrificing two of his companions to seal him again.

17th of Sun's Dusk: As Ra'Tasha approached the College of Winterhold, he saw that Ancano's barrier now encompassed the entirety of the College. With the staff in hand Ra'Tasha was able to break through the barrier and enter into the main hall. Using the staff, Ancano's hold over the Eye of Magnus was quickly broken and he fought this one with a myriad of magic spells. It was not enough however, and soon Ancano lay dead. Before anything else could be done, a group of Psijics arrived and took the Eye of Magnus with them, saying it was too dangerous to leave in mortal hands. With the old Arch-mage dead a new leader had to be found for the college. After Ra'Tasha's actions retrieving the staff and stopping Ancano, the other mages chose him as the new Arch-mage.

While in Winterhold, Ra'Tasha discreetly met with Karliah and her friend. With the rubbing Ra'Tasha had acquired, he was able to translate Gallus' journal. It seems Gallus had suspected Mercer had been stealing large sums of money from the guild without anyone noticing. Gallus also suspected that Mercer had desecrated a temple to Nocturnal and may have stolen some of the artefacts that lay within. Karliah explained that it was the sacred duty of the Nightingales to guard the temple called the Twilight Sepulcher, which is dedicated to the Daedric Lord of shadows and secrets, and protect anything that lay within it. With this information we can now go to Riften and clear Karliah's name. And turn the guild against Mercer Frey.

Not far from Winterhold, Ra'Tasha stumbled upon a shrine to Azura, Daedric lord of dawn and dusk. A worshipper greeted Ra'Tasha, apparently expecting him. She insisted that Ra'Tasha go to Winterhold and ask about “an elven mage able to turn the brightest star as black as night.” Daedra certainly love their riddles. After asking around, Ra'Tasha met a former member of the college who seemed to know what the message about the stars meant. It seems an associate of his, a Malyn Varen, had stolen Azura's Star some years ago. Malyn planned to use the star in a bid to become immortal, by capturing his soul inside of it. He ran into problems and was soon driven mad, even going to far as to murder fellow mages to test his theories. Now it seems Azura wishes for this one to put an end to the mage's twisted magic.

18th of Sun's Dusk: Ra'Tasha returned to the Thieves Guild with Karliah to clear her name. Mercer was not present at the time, and using the journal these two tried to convince Brynjolf that Karliah did not kill the former guild master. He was uncertain if these two were telling the truth, until he opened the vault and found it empty. Now Mercer is the one being hunted. We did not know where to begin looking, though if he were to return to Riften again he most certainly would not leave. Ra'Tasha was asked to break into Mercer's house in Riften to find a clue as to his whereabouts. After breaking into his house, Ra'Tasha found evidence suggesting he was after something called the eyes of the Falmer. After speaking with Brynjolf and Karliah, the latter asked Ra'Tasha and Brynjolf to meet her at a secret location outside of town.

Upon arriving, Karliah told these two, that this was the secret headquarters of the Nightingales, and wanted both Brynjolf and Ra'Tasha to join the group and complete the trinity. She also told us that Mercer had stolen a sacred artefact belonging to Nocturnal, the Skeleton Key, a magic key that could open any door. That would explain how Mercer got into the “impregnable” vault. After giving us some very nice new armour, Karliah had this one and Brynjolf swear an oath to Nocturnal. An oath that involved summoning the Daedric Prince before us and swearing loyalty to her. Now these three are to track down Mercer Frey and deal out justice for both the Thieves Guild and Nocturnal.

19th of Sun's Dusk: While still in the Rift, Ra'Tasha stopped by a known Silver Hand outpost and slew its leader. Now there is one less werewolf killer in Skyrim.

In Falkreath Hold, Ra'Tasha reported back to the Dark Brotherhood with news of his success. Astrid however was concerned about Cicero, who has apparently been speaking to someone in his private chambers. She asked Ra'Tasha to sneak in and overhear the conversation, by hiding inside the Night Mother's coffin. Ra'Tasha is regretting ever having associated with these people.

After too long waiting in the coffin with a corpse, Cicero began speaking to her. It seems he wishes for the Night Mother to speak to him and choose him as the Listener of the Dark Brotherhood. However, while he was talking, the Night Mother spoke to Ra'Tasha. She said this one was the only one worthy of being the Listener, and the only one she could speak to. She then ordered this one to go to Volunruud and find a man named Amaund Motierre. When Ra'Tasha stepped outside Cicero was quite angry, until Ra'Tasha told him what the Night Mother said. Soon Astrid came rushing in and heard the news. She insisted that, regardless of the Night Mother's wishes, she was still leader of the sanctuary. She then had Ra'Tasha speak to Nazir for more assignments.

The first of Ra'Tasha two contracts was a vampire hiding out at a lumber mill. However, on his way to the mill, Ra'Tasha was attacked by a dragon. The flying beast followed Ra'Tasha to the mill where the vampire in question died fighting against the dragon. It made this one's job easier, though he still had to kill the dragon himself.

20th of Sun's Dusk: Ra'Tasha was able to track down the wizard Malyn Varen. Though when he arrived Varen was already dead. He still had the Star of Azura in his possession, so Ra'Tasha took it and returned it to the shrine. Azura herself spoke to this one and told him that Varen had succeeded in transferring his soul into the gem, and that it was useless until he was purged from it. That meant Ra'Tasha had to go inside and duel Varen, casting his soul from the gem in the process. Azura thanked this one for his help and offered him the star for his services. Of all the Daedric Princes Ra'Tasha has spoken to, Azura is certainly the most kind-hearted and polite of the group.

21st of Sun's Dusk: The next target Ra'Tasha has been asked to deal with for the Brotherhood is an Orc bard living in Morthal. Apparently he is so obnoxious and his music is so bad that numerous people asked to have him killed. It is not quite the same as killing a slave dealer, but Ra'Tasha does seem to be making the world a better place through this act, so this one slew the Orc.

22nd of Sun's Dusk: While passing through Solitude, Ra'Tasha was asked to come to the castle. It seems that Ra'Tasha was not entirely successful stopping the ritual began by the necromancers before. The spirit of the Wolf Queen is now loose in Tamriel. The Wolf Queen, as it turns out, was known in life as Potema, Queen of Solitude and a member of the Septim royal family. Not only was she known for being cruel, but she was a renowned necromancer as well. Ra'Tasha went into the catacombs beneath the city to retrieve her remains so as to banish her from this realm. He encountered Potema's angry spirit, who resurrected many corpses to attack this one. Eventually Ra'Tasha was victorious and took Potema's skull for himself. He returned it to a priest to have her banished from the realm of the living once and for all. As a sign of gratitude the Jarl named this one Thane of Haafingar and allowed him to purchase a house. With this done, Ra'Tasha holds the title of Thane in every one of the nine holds, effectively making him Thane of Skyrim.

23rd of Sun's Dusk: Ra'Tasha located the shrine to Mehrunes Dagon and placed the broken pieces upon the alter. After speaking to the Daedric Prince directly, he agreed to restore the blade if Ra'Tasha killed the museum curator. The alternative was not pleasant. So Ra'Tasha used his sword to bring an end to the Mythic Dawn for good. The curator did feel it was important that blade be repaired. Though I'm not sure this is what he was expecting. Ra'Tasha then took the completed sword and was on his way.

As Ra'Tasha was passing through the road in Haafingar, he saw the spectral image of a headless horseman riding down the road. Ra'Tasha might have been more surprised, if he hadn't already seen many stranger sights since his arrival. Ra'Tasha also found a shrine to Meridia, Daedric Prince of life and energy. Though Ra'Tasha admits he had to look that one up. She asked this one to retrieve a lost beacon for her temple.

24th of Sun's Dusk: After returning to the Dark Brotherhood, Astrid had finally decided that Ra'Tasha should go and speak with this Amaund Motierre, as he is a potential client for the organization. She told Ra'Tasha where to find the crypt Volunruud is said to be inhabiting.

25th of Sun's Dusk: While en route to Volunruud, Ra'Tasha was approached by an Argonian who claims that Ra'Tasha dared him to sneak into a bandit camp and steal someone's hat, promising him money if he succeeded. Normally Ra'Tasha does not do this sort of thing, but he mentioned that Ra'Tasha was hanging around with a “Sam” at the time. This can only mean this all occurred on the night Ra'Tasha spent drinking with “Sam.” Ra'Tasha wonders what else he did that night that he can't remember.

Ra'Tasha met with Amaund Motierre as planned, and was given his assignment, or at least the start of one. It seems he wishes for the Dark Brotherhood to assassinate the Emperor of Tamriel! Ra'Tasha has a terrible feeling that he is in way over his head. Though before the actual assassination can be done, steps must be taken to draw out the target. Steps that Amaund has written down. Amaund has also given this one an amulet as payment for the Brotherhood's services. Astrid will certainly jump at this news, though Ra'Tasha feels his stomach turning into one giant knot.

Once the business was concluded, Ra'Tasha explored the rest of the tomb himself. He had to fight through a good many Draugr, but did find a word of power carved on a wall so he is glad Amaund chose this stop for the clandestine meeting.

26th of Sun's Dusk: At last the trap in Dragonsreach was ready to be sprung. Ra'Tasha used his Thu'um to call Odahviing to the castle. It did not take long for him to arrive and begin his attack. Ra'Tasha lead him from the open area outside, into an area on the castle with three walls and a ceiling. Once Odahviing was in place a large wooden yoke was dropped on his neck, pinning him to the ground.

Once the fighting was over, Odahviing was quite cooperative. He said he answered the call because he wished to test his might against Ra'Tasha's, especially after his defeat of Alduin. It seems that there is some dissent amongst the dragons since Alduin's defeat atop the Throat of the World. Some are questioning his ability to lead, though none openly oppose him yet. Odahviing also said that Alduin had gone to Sovngarde, the Nordic afterlife, and has been gaining power by feasting on the souls of deceased Nord warriors.

During the interrogation, the Jarl's mage came by wishing to take some blood and scales from Odahviing to study. Odahviing did not appreciate this and sacred the mage of with some fire breathing.

After feeling defeat at Ra'Tasha's hand, Odahviing says he is willing to help him stop Alduin. Ra'Tasha feels that he is not lying, for dragons have a history of not telling lies. They are also known to follow the one proven to be the strongest, and this experience seems to have humbled him a good deal. Besides, Odahviing does not seems especially pleased with Alduin at the moment. Odahviing has offered to carry Ra'Tasha on his back to Skuldafn, where Alduin's forces gather and a portal to Sovngarde is said to rest. Should Ra'Tasha fall in battle this will be his final entry into his journal. He would leave a message for someone who may one day find this journal, but if Ra'Tasha does fail then Alduin will most likely destroy the world and any message this one leaves behind will be lost.

27th of Sun's Dusk: At long last, Alduin is dead! At least, as dead as Ra'Tasha can make him. Ra'Tasha arrived at the temple of Skuldafn and fought off several dragons outside and an army of Draugr inside. One of the Draugr was holding a diamond dragon claw necessary to unlock a door. Ra'Tasha wonders how many of these are left for him to find. At the very top of the temple there was a portal leading to Sovngarde, and a dragon priest guarding it. Once he was slain Ra'Tasha took the mask that he wore, almost identical to the one worn by the dragon priest in Labyrinthian. Then Ra'Tasha stepped into the swirling energies destined for Sovngarde.

Upon first arriving at Sovngarde, Ra'Tasha was greeted by an impenetrable and seemingly endless mist. He saw other dead warriors lost within the mist, fearful to go any farther lest they become prey for Alduin, who waits within the thick fog. Ra'Tasha ran through the fog and did see Alduin, though he was able to evade the World-Eater. Eventually Ra'Tasha came upon Tsun, shield-thane of Shor and guardian of the entrance to his hall. After a short battle he concluded that Ra'Tasha was worthy to pass and he walked across the bridge made of dragon bones into Shor's Hall of Valor.

Inside the great hall where heroes eat, drink eat and sing for eternity, Ra'Tasha could see the faces of many Nord heroes of old, such as Jurgen Windcaller, first of the Greybeards, Ysgramor, founder of the Companions, and perhaps most importantly, the three heroes who defeated Alduin atop the Throat of the World. When Ra'Tasha explained the situation to them they eagerly followed him back into the mist, and with these four shouting in unison Alduin's fog was cleared away. Before these four had a chance to catch theirs breath Alduin was upon them. These four stood firm against Alduin's wrath and after a long, hard fought battle, the World-Eater fell. His body seemed to be consumed by flames, not unlike other slain dragons. However, when the process was finished no trace of him remained, nor was Ra'Tasha able to absorb his soul. The three heroes of old offered their services to this one, saying they would come if he called them with his Thu'um. Once goodbyes were said, Tsun allowed Ra'Tasha to return to the land of the living.

Ra'Tasha found himself atop the Throat of the World, surrounded by a large assembly of dragons. Instead of attacking, they all paid there respects and flew off, apparently acknowledging that Ra'Tasha was stronger than Alduin. Paarthurnax spoke to Ra'Tasha, saying that he was sad that Alduin, his brother, was gone, though he acknowledged that Ra'Tasha only did what had to be done. He flew off with the other dragons intent to lead them, or at least to try. However, one dragon remained behind. It seems Odahviing wishes to stay with Ra'Tasha and aid him where he can, partially as thanks for the death of Alduin.

Ra'Tasha visited the Greybeards at High Hrothgar and told them of what happened. There was a discussion about what became of Alduin. If he was truly vanquished for eternity, or if perhaps his soul merely returned to the feet of his father Akatosh, stripped of a corporeal form. Perhaps he will return someday to bring abut the end of the world as the prophecies say. There is no way to know for certain, though his reign of terror is over now and Skyrim is once again free of his dark ambitions.

28th of Sun's Dusk: The final push for the liberation of Skyrim has begun. Early this morning Ra'Tasha and a group of Stormcloaks marched on Fort Hraggstad. To turn the odds in our favour, Ra'Tasha called on Odahviing for assistance and then watched as he helped tear through the Imperials. Now all that remains is to take Solitude itself, then we will have pushed the last of the Imperial forces out of Skyrim.

Success! After a long fought battle Solitude is ours. With Ulfric leading the charge we broke through the city gates and took control of the garrison. When we broke into the fort, the leader of the Imperial forces, General Tullius, surrendered. Though an associate of his would not and drew her sword, inspiring Tullius to draw his weapon and fought back. The woman was slain and Tullius overpowered. Then once he had said his peace, Ulfric killed him. With that finished, Ulfric went outside and gave a speech making peace with the Jarl of Solitude and not accepting the title of High King, instead insisting that title be given to one chosen in a Moot between the Jarls. Skyrim is now an independent province, free from the Empire's control and the demands of the Aldmeri Dominion.

29th of Sun's Dusk: Ra'Tasha found Meridia's beacon in a small cavern underneath a lake, guarded by a pair of vampires. This one does not know much about Meridia, but does know she detests all undead.

Ra'Tasha found another word of power atop a mountain. He also had an encounter with a dragon atop the same peak and was forced to slay the creature in self defence. Clearly not all of the dragons decided to follow Paarthurnax.

30th of Sun's Dusk: At the request of the Companions, Ra'Tasha went searching through the Rift to locate a fragment of an old battleaxe known as Wuuthrad, originally belonging to Ysgramor, founder of the Companions. It was found in the possession of a group of Silver Hand members who died failing to protect it.

Atop one of Skyrim's many peaks Ra'Tasha found another word of wisdom etched into stone. This one however was guarded by both a dragon and a masked dragon priest. With Odahviing's assisting this one there erupted a two-on-two battle, both in the sky and upon the land.

1st of Evening Star: Together Ra'Tasha, Karliah and Brynjolf have tracked down Mercer Frey to the ruins at Irkngthand, where the Eyes of the Falmer are said to rest. The cavern was filled to the brim with Falmer, but these three eventually fought their way to a giant statue of a snow elf, whose jewelled eyes Mercer was plucking out. Mercer stood no chance against the these three, and soon Ra'Tasha had in his possession Nocturnal's Skeleton Key, as well as the Eyes of the Falmer, two jewels each as large as Ra'Tasha's head. However, Mercer laid some explosives which went, off damaging some Dwemer pipes and filling the cavern with water. These three were lucky to not drown.

Once these three were free and clear Karliah told this one to return the Skeleton Key to the Twilight Sepulcher where it belongs. Karliah is too ashamed to do it due to her failure, and Brynjolf has to run the Thieves Guild, so the task falls to Ra'Tasha. He will return the key of course, but he suspects there are some locks in Skyrim that he may need to open first.

2nd of Evening Star: Ra'Tasha returned to Whiterun and gave Aela the fragment of Wuuthrad, which she was pleased to see. This one was then summoned by Kodlak Whitemane, Harbinger of the Companions. He told of how the Circle was formed several hundred years ago, when a deal was struck with a group called the Glenmoril witches, and the first werewolves began the Circle. Kodlak says that upon death, a werewolf is said to go to Hircine's hunting grounds. However, Kodlak wishes to be cured of his Lycanthropy so that he may go to Sovngarde upon his death. To accomplish this task he has asked Ra'Tasha to bring back the head of one of these witches so that a cure can be made for him.

3rd of Evening Star: Ra'Tasha couldn't put off his meeting with Astrid any longer without her getting suspicious. Sure enough, she was more than willing to assassinate the emperor. She said it would make the Brotherhood more feared than it had been in centuries. Before enacting the plan however, she asked this one to take the amulet offered in payment to Delvin Mallory, the best fence in the Thieves Guild. Which works out fine for Ra'Tasha, as he had business with the man anyways. Delvin identified the amulet as belonging to a member of the Elder Council and gave this one “credit” to be redeemed at a later date. With that concluded, Ra'Tasha handed over one of the Eyes of the Falmer. The left eye to be precise. Certainly this will go a long way to helping the guild. The right eye Ra'Tasha is keeping for himself.

4th of Evening Star: Ra'Tasha returned Meridia's beacon to her shrine and the Daedric Prince spoke to this one, at an altitude of about a thousand meters. She instructed Ra'Tasha to enter her temple and slay a necromancer that had been filling her halls with shades. Ra'Tasha has lost count of the number of necromancers he has had to evict from burial chambers, or temples, or whatever. Inside he found a series of crystals that, when activated, bounced the light from the first beacon on to the next until it lead to the heart of the temple. There Ra'Tasha put an end to another necromancer. As thanks Meridia gave this one a sword called Dawnbreaker, with a hilt that shone like the sun. After dealing with Meridia this one must say she seems quite full of herself. She behaves as though she was the greatest thing to happen to Tamriel since the dawn of time.

5th of Evening Star: While stopping by Whiterun, Ra'Tasha helped a city guard fight off a vampire. Apparently vampire sightings have been on the rise as of late and some people near Riften are trying to reform a group called the “Dawnguard.” Something about slaying vampires apparently.

While in Riften a man asked Ra'Tasha to help him pay off his debt to Maven Black-Brier. Knowing that the woman can be rather vindictive, Ra'Tasha agreed to help. Then Ra'Tasha found out that the reason he was in debt was because he lost a valuable quill he was supposed to deliver to her. Specifically, the boat he was using hit a rock and sank. Ra'Tasha had to swim up and down the lake outside Riften to find what he was looking for. He swears he is dry now, but can still smell wet fur.

6th of Evening Star: Ra'Tasha found the headquarters for this Dawnguard he had heard of. It took him half the day but he found it, hidden on a mountain in the middle of a frozen wasteland. Though Ra'Tasha supposes that describes half the locations in Skyrim. The structure was a massive stone fortress called Fort Dawnguard. As he approached he met a young man who was eager to join the Dawnguard, though he was green as grass. The leader, a man named Isran, explained that the Dawnguard used to hunt vampires centuries ago, before they became obsolete. Now he is starting up the organization again, apparently leaving the Vigilants of Stendarr to do so. In fact, a Vigilant was there talking to Isran when Ra'Tasha entered. It seems a group of vampires attacked the Hall of the Vigilant. Given how that one Vigilant reacted to Molag Bal, Ra'Tasha isn't surprised they were overwhelmed. It seems the reason the hall was attacked was because the Vigilants found something in a cavern. The Vigilant then left for the cavern in question. After signing up with the Dawnguard Ra'Tasha went after the Vigilant.

As expected, the cavern was filled with vampires, as well as some beastly dog creatures Ra'Tasha has not seen before. Ra'Tasha was able to put Meridia's sword to excellent use against the undead. Unfortunately, the Vigilant of Stendarr had already been slain by the vampires before Ra'Tasha arrived. Deep inside the cavern this one found what all the fuss was about: a complex seal. A blood seal to be specific, meaning Ra'Tasha's hand got cut open, again. Underneath the seal was a stone coffin, and inside that was a young woman in possession of an Elder Scroll. The girl introduced herself as Serana and she admitted to being a vampire. Ra'Tasha refrained from killing her. Most of the vampires he has met relished the opportunity to terrorize the living, but this one seemed downright pleasant and did not seem the type to murder innocents for entertainment. She is not certain how long she was sealed away, but apparently it was before Cyrodiil became the seat of the Empire, so it must have been very long ago indeed. She asked Ra'Tasha to escort her back to her home on an island west of Solitude. This one feels confident Serana is trustworthy, so he agreed to help her.

7th of Evening Star: Well, Ra'Tasha found Serana's house. Pardon. Ra'Tasha meant castle. A castle to rival, and probably surpass, most of the Jarl's keeps. Serana identified it as Castle Volkihar. Given how long Serana was sealed away for, Ra'Tasha expected the place to be deserted, but instead found it filled with vampires. He was greeted by Lord Harkon, head of the Volkihar clan and Serana's father. He seemed more pleased to see the Elder Scroll than his own daughter. Immediately Ra'Tasha felt distrustful of Harkon. As a reward for his help he offered to turn this one into a vampire. Then he did something unexpected. He transformed into a fanged bat-like beast sporting a pair of wings. Ra'Tasha has killed a lot of vampires and has never seen anything like this before. He turned down Harkon's offer. Ra'Tasha doesn't think Harkon took the rejection well, because he told Ra'Tasha not to return. The next thing he knew Ra'Tasha was waking up outside the castle in a snow bank.

8th of Evening Star: Ra'Tasha tracked down one of the Glenmoril witches and took her head as per Kodlak's instructions. Hopefully this ritual of his will cure him of his Lycanthropy. Ra'Tasha also stopped by to tell Astrid about the amulet. She confirmed that our employer is in fact a member of the Elder Council. At any rate she has asked this one to begin phase one of “Operation kill the emperor.” It seems that a cousin of the emperor, and head of the East Empire Company, is getting married. This one is to kill her at the wedding reception in an attempt to lure the emperor out here. Astrid has requested the kill be made while she is giving a speech to ensure maximum effect. The thought of killing an innocent woman on her wedding day makes Ra'Tasha sick to his stomach.

9th of Evening Star: Ra'Tasha arrived back in Whiterun before the break of dawn. Unfortunately he did not arrive to good news. Jorrvaskr had been attacked by a contingent of Silver Hand members and Kodlak had been killed in the battle. The Silver Hand also stole all of our fragments of Wuuthrad. The Circle is in an uproar and is plotting to wipe out the Silver Hand for good.

10th of Evening Star: Ra'Tasha returned to Fort Dawnguard in the midst of a vampire attack. Once he had helped route the blood suckers, this one spoke with Isran. He was most displeased to learn what had transpired. Between this vampire clan possessing an Elder Scroll and the attack on the fort, he feels the Dawnguard needs help. To that end he has asked Ra'Tasha to locate two old friends of his and recruit them to our cause.

Tired of dealing with the Silver Hand, Ra'Tasha and another member of the Circle stormed their headquarters, wiping out every last member of the group. They shall not bother us again. We were also able to retrieve the stolen fragments of Wuuthrad.

11th of Evening Star: With the Silver Hand dealt with, the Companions were able to mourn the loss of Kodlak in peace. Ra'Tasha attended the funeral and watched as Kodlak's body was cremated. Afterwards, a special meeting of the Circle was held to discuss Kodlak's final wish. The others say there is a way cure Lycanthropy even after death, allowing Kodlak to be free of his bond to Hircine and ascend to Sovngarde as he always wished. To do this we must venture to Ysgramor's Tomb. Unfortunately, it can only be accessed if one holds Wuuthrad in his hands. As luck would have it however, we now have access to all the pieces of Wuuthrad and can now reforge the ancient weapon.

Ra'Tasha was able to locate Gunmar, one of the “recruits” Isran spoke of. He was in the process of hunting down a bear, one that had apparently killed several people already. Once the animal was put down Gunmar agreed to help us fight the vampire threat.

12th of Evening Star: Ra'Tasha slayed two different dragons today, one guarding a word of power and another attacking a group of Forsworn. After that Ra'Tasha found Sarine, the other person Isran wanted to help the Dawnguard. She was looking for a bunch of old Dwemer gyros or something when this one found her. Apparently she and Isran had a falling out in the past, but once she heard that vampires and an Elder Scroll were involved she agreed to help.

13th of Evening Star: Well, Ra'Tasha attended the wedding. Well, technically he attended the wedding reception. As per Astrid's wishes the bride took an arrow to the throat as she was addressing the crowd. Ra'Tasha regretted the action even before he let his arrow fly. By this point however, there is no way to turn back. If Ra'Tasha were to refuse to help another assassin would take his place.

Phase two of our plan involves killing the son of Commander Maro, the man who will be overseeing the security for the emperor's upcoming visit to Skyrim. Once the son is dead, Ra'Tasha is to place evidence on him implying he was involved in a conspiracy to kill the emperor. This should leave Maro so distraught that his job will suffer and the emperor's security detail will be easy to get around.

14th of Evening Star: Upon returning to Fort Dawnguard, Ra'Tasha learned what Isran wanted his two friends for. Ra'Tasha was unsurprised to learn that Isran desired Sarine's mechanical skills to improve our crossbow design and make other deadly vampire slaying contraptions. Gunmar however... Well, at this very moment he is arming captured frost trolls and training them to fight for us. Ra'Tasha is not certain if this idea is utterly brilliant or incredibly stupid.

There was one more person at the fort who wished to speak to Ra'Tasha. It seems that Serana has escaped from her father's castle with the Elder Scroll and came here. According to Serana, her father had once heard a prophecy telling of a powerful vampire that would put an end to the sun. Her father became obsessed with this prophecy, slowly going mad. Apparently neither Serana nor her mother were particularly thrilled with his new hobby. At some point Harkon acquired an Elder Scroll, at which point Serana's mother sealed her away with the Elder Scroll, to keep both of them out of her Harkon's hands.

Since this Elder Scroll is key to Harkon's plan it is imperative we have it examined. Unfortunately, the only people who can read the Elder Scrolls are members of The Cult of Ancestor Moths, and they spend a lifetime learning to do so. Beside which, they all live in Cyrodiil, either in their monastery or in White Gold Tower where they look after the Elder Scrolls. If we are to learn anything from this Elder Scroll we will need to find some way to locate one of the Ancestor Moths. Serana has agreed to accompany this one and help in whatever way she can. Ra'Tasha knew she was trustworthy.

Before departing, Ra'Tasha asked Serana where her family got their vampire powers from, as none of the other vampires he has seen had the ability to transform like that. She mentioned how the first vampire was created by Molag Bal, a story that Ra'Tasha has heard before. Apparently Bal wanted to spite mortals, his favourite pass-time it seems, and violently raped a woman. Afterwards she was found to have some supernatural disease and died a few days later. During her funeral she rose form the dead as the first vampire, infecting others with her bite. It seems that Harkon heard this tale and wanted similar power for himself, but instead of contracting it through blood, he instead went straight to the source and made a deal with Molag Bal. Bal gave all the members of Harkon's court the power of the Vampire Lord in exchange for... Ra'Tasha does not know what. Serana would not go into detail. She would only say that is was “degrading.” If Molag Bal is concerned Ra'Tasha is probably better off not knowing.

15th of Evening Star: Ra'Tasha was able to locate some old Dwemer schematics containing details about crossbow design. Hopefully this will help Sarine build more weapons for the Dawnguard.

16th of Evening Star: In the town of Dragon Bridge, Ra'Tasha located the travel schedule of his target. A dragon attacked shortly after Ra'Tasha arrived, so no one noticed this one steal what he needed. Then of course he slew the dragon. This one will catch up to his prey and strike when the time is right.

17th of Evening Star: Ra'Tasha was able to track and kill his prey in Riften and plant an incriminating note on his person. Now his father will grieve the lose of both his son's life and honour, too distraught to prepare for the Emperor's arrival. Joyous day. In case you can't tell Ra'Tasha is being sarcastic.

18th of Evening Star: Upon returning to the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary, Ra'Tasha learned that Cicero had gone mad, trying to kill Astrid and badly wounding another member of the Brotherhood. The mad jester ran off and Arnbjorn ran after him. Ra'Tasha found a journal in Cicero's bedroom and read through it. It seems Cicero once stayed at another Sanctuary near Dawnstar. The pass phrase was even written down. Astrid sent this one to kill Cicero. This is one task Ra'Tasha does not feel bad about. Cicero is an insane and thoroughly disturbed individual whose death shall not be missed. In order to help Ra'Tasha in his quest, Astrid offered this one the use of her horse, Shadowmare. Ra'Tasha found it outside the Sanctuary rising up out of a pool of a black tar-like substance. This one believes he has the most awesome horse in all of Tamriel.

19th of Evening Star: The Dawnstar Sanctuary was not hard to find. Outside the door this one spoke with Arnbjorn, who was badly wounded, though he said Cicero did not fair any better from their confrontation. As he did not know the pass phrase he could not enter the Sanctuary, though Ra'Tasha did. Though there were more than a few traps set up, Ra'Tasha was able to hunt down Cicero and put an end to the mad jester.

20th of Evening Star: In an effort to find an Ancestor Moth Priest, Ra'Tasha and Serana stopped by the College of Winterhold. As luck would have it a member of the cult had stopped by the Arcanaeum not long ago. It seems he is traveling across Skyrim hoping to find another Elder Scroll to take back to White Gold Tower.

21st of Evening Star: Inside the Tomb of Ysgramor, Ra'Tasha spoke with the spirit of Kodlak, unable to enter Sovngarde and unwilling to go to Hircine's realm. Fortunately Ra'Tasha still had the head of the Glenmoril Witch, and after a burning it in a ceremony, Kodlak's wolf spirit emerged from his body for Ra'Tasha to slay. With his soul now free of Hircine's influence, Kodlak was free to depart for Sovngarde, but before he left he named Ra'Tasha the new Harbinger of the Companions.

22nd of Evening Star: Well, Ra'Tasha and Serana found the caravan that the Moth Priest had been traveling with. Or more accurately, the charred remains of it. The priest was gone and everyone else had been slain. Together these two were able to track the priest to a cavern where the vampires were holding him prisoner. Once they had been slain these two rescued their prophet. He introduced himself as Dexion Evicus, and as soon as we told him we had an Elder Scroll he immediately agreed to accompany us back to Fort Dawnguard.

23rd of Evening Star: Dexion read from the Elder Scroll. Sadly we were only able to gleam a little information from it. He spoke of something called Auriel's bow, a Vampire Lord, and day and night becoming one. He believes the bow's significance is written in other scrolls. He said one contains the secrets of the ancient dragons, most likely the one Ra'Tasha already has, and another speaks of the potency of ancient blood. The reading had taken a lot out of Dexion and he needed to rest before he would be ready to read from another scroll.

Serena thinks her mother might have this third Scroll, or at least may have a clue where it may lie. She hasn't seen her since she was sealed away, but believes her mother may be hiding somewhere in Castle Volkihar. “Hidden in the last place Harkon would look.” Now we just need to find a way in.

Gunmar and Sarine came to speak to Ra'Tasha about recruiting someone named Florentius Baenius. into our group. Apparently Isran is not found of the man, but that describes his relationship with just about everyone. All Ra'Tasha knows about Florentius is that he was once a member of the Vigilants of Stendarr.

24th of Evening Star: Ra'Tasha found Florentius in a cave, surrounded by vampires. He was happy to be free and thanked Arkay for this one's arrival. Initially he was unwilling to join Isran's cause, but then Arkay changed his mind. He acted as though the god was in the room with us and told him to go see Isran. Ra'Tasha heard Florentius was a little off. This must be what the others meant, because he is pretty sure Arkay worship does not work like that. All of the Nine Divines tend to be hard to get in contact with. Some aren't even sure they are real.

25th of Evening Star: With Cicero dead it is time to begin phase three of “Operation Kill The Emperor.” Astrid wants this one to kill, then impersonate, someone known as “The Gourmet.” No one knows what he looks like, but he is scheduled to serve food for the emperor during his visit here. As far as anyone can tell, the only one who does know the identity of the Gourmet is a cook in Markarth. Ra'Tasha will be paying him a visit soon.

26th of Evening Star: After speaking with the chef, Ra'Tasha learned the identity of the Gourmet. Surprisingly, he is an Orc. That would explain the anonymity. Few people would buy any of his cookbooks if they knew he was an Orc. At any rate, the chef is dead and unable to warn his friend.

27th of Evening Star: Together this one and Serana snuck into Castle Volkihar. Specifically through the dock area around the back side of the island. Only skeletons and some death hounds were present, so no one should know of our incursion for a while. These two immediately went to the castle garden where Serana and her mother spent much time together. The place was in ruins, no doubt because Harkon did not care for it. In the centre was a large moon-dial that held a secret passage. Inside these two found a smattering of gargoyles protecting a secret laboratory that belonged to Valerica. That is Serana's mother's name. Ra'Tasha is getting tired of referring to her as Serana's mother constantly.

Inside the laboratory these two found a portal that leads to a place called the Soul Cairn. According to Serana, the Soul Cairn is a realm of Oblivion and the place where souls go after they are released from soul gems. Perhaps Ra'Tasha will run into Malyn Varen again. These two do not know what they will find in this deadly realm, but Serana warned that it is ruled by beings called the Ideal Masters, who have a reputation for making deals with necromancers to acquire souls, then double crossing the necromancers. Since no one living can enter the Soul Cairn, Serana wants to partially entrap part of Ra'Tasha's life force in a soul gem to allow him access to the realm. Compared to this, Gunmar's plan to train frost trolls seems like a sane and well thought out idea.

28th of Evening Star: Well, Ra'Tasha and Serana made their way into the Soul Cairn. This one must admit he has seen friendlier looking places. The sky is a purple-blue colour and a swirling black vortex is visible in the sky at all times. Many lost souls wander the bone-littered ground. While exploring, Ra'Tasha made friends with a horse who ended up here somehow and now allows Ra'Tasha to ride his skeletal body. Ra'Tasha also met a Dunmer writer who claims to have eradicated all the cliff racers native to Morrowind. According to him he was in Kvatch when he was slain by a Dremora. Kvatch was the first city to be invaded during the Oblivion crisis all those years ago and was burned to the ground.

Eventually we came upon Valerica, trapped behind a magical barrier that surrounded a castle structure. She did not approve of her daughter cavorting with a member of the Dawnguard, but Serana was eventually able to convince her mother to trust this one. It seems Valerica came here hoping to make a bargain with the Ideal Ones, but soon realized they were untrustworthy and ended up tapped behind the barrier, lest their minions claim her soul. According to Valerica, the key to killing the sun was a ritual that involved sacrificing a “Daughter of Coldharbour.” In other words, a female vampire lord. Like Serana. Together Ra'Tasha and Serana broke the barrier, then entered the ruins with Valerica to retrieve the Elder Scroll. Before we could however, a dragon named Durnehviir attacked us. Ra'Tasha was able to slay him, but upon death his body simply faded away instead of all his flesh and organs burning away leaving behind only bones. Valerica believes that the dragon's body was only momentarily destroyed and that he will reconstitute eventually.

Valerica gave us the Elder Scroll, but did not wish to leave the Soul Cairn, lest Harkon use her as a sacrifice to destroy the sun. With the Elder Scroll in this one's possession these two said goodbye to Valerica, then left to return to Skyrim. As these two departed, we were met by Durnehviir, though this time he only wished to talk. He told of how he came to the Soul Cairn centuries ago when dragons still ruled Skyrim. He made a bargain with the Ideal Masters for an army of undead, in exchange he would guard the Soul Cairn until Valerica died, not knowing Valerica was an immortal vampire at the time. Now he is fated to guard the Soul Cairn for all eternity. He gave Ra'Tasha instructions to summon him back in Nirn, wishing to escape from this place if only for a brief periods of time. One last task before this one departed, he had to find the soul gem that contained Ra'Tasha's life force. Apparently it had been given to the Ideal Masters as “payment” for allowing Ra'Tasha to enter this place. At any rate the gem was not well-guarded and the two of us finally left that wretched place behind.

29th of Evening Star: Ra'Tasha came across a small mining town in the Reach called Karthwastern. As this one arrived the locals were being threatened to sell the town to sellswords working for the Silver-Blood family. With a few well placed threats Ra'Tasha was able to convince the sellswords to leave. Not far from the town was a shrine to Peryite, Daedric Prince of pestilence, also known as the Taskmaster. Instead of a statue in his image, Ra'Tasha had to inhale fumes from a special brew made by the single worshipper present. Peryite asked this one to slay an elf who was once a follower, but has since turned his back on the Daedric Prince. It seems he is holed up with a group of followers in some Dwemer ruins. According to Peryite, they are all afflicted with some plague and are waiting for him to order them to spread it across Tamriel. The way Ra'Tasha sees it, by doing this one task he is helping prevent an outbreak down the road.

30th of Evening Star: Ra'Tasha slayed the former follower of the Taskmaster, as per his instructions. In thanks, Peryite gave this one a shield that can deflect magic spells. While in Solitude, Ra'Tasha witnessed a dragon attacking the city. This is the first time he has seen a lone dragon attack a city as large as Solitude. Of course, with the help of so many townsfolk the dragon fell quickly.

Speaking of dragons, Ra'Tasha used his new shout to call forth Durnehviir from the Soul Cairn. As gratitude for his temporary release, he taught this one a new shout that could be used to rend a person's soul from their body and trap it within a soul gem. Though after seeing what fate awaits those that become trapped in soul gems, Ra'Tasha is not certain he has the heart to use it on many people. 

31st of Evening Star: According the chef he killed in Markarth, the Gourmet lives in the basement of a place called Nightingale Inn, located in the middle of The Pale. Ra'Tasha slew another dragon on his way to the inn with the help of Durnehviir. Compared to the dragon, killing the Gourmet was a simple task. Now that he has the Orc's write of passage this one can gain access to the emperor and deal the fatal blow.

202nd Year of the Fourth Era

1st of Morning Star: Well, Ra'Tasha brought the other two Elder Scrolls back to Fort Dawnguard. Today is the first day of a new year and Ra'Tasha thought it would be appropriate to kick off the new year with a reading from the Elder Scrolls. Sadly, a new problem has emerged. It seems that after reading from the first Elder Scroll, Dexion has gone blind. Now he wants Ra'Tasha to read from the Scrolls. In order to do that Ra'Tasha will have to find the Ancestor Moths. Not the people belonging to the order, but actual moths. According to Dexion these moths will facilitate the reading of the Elder Scrolls, somehow.

2nd of Morning Star: Isran sent this one to Riften to slay a vampire. It seems someone working from Harkon has infiltrated the Jarl's court as a visiting official. Ra'Tasha waited till he was alone, made certain he was a vampire, the red eyes were a giveaway, then slew him. The vampire had a note ordering him to bend the Jarl to Harkon's will so when the guards find his body they will know he was up to no good.

While passing through the Rift Ra'Tasha came across an Orc settlement under siege from giants. According to the Orcs, Malacath is angry with them and placed a curse on their tribe. Malacath being the Daedric Prince of oaths and the forsaken, as well as the patron of all Orcs. After contacting him via a ritual, Malacath displayed anger that the leader of the tribe had allowed giants to move in and desecrate his shrine. To right things, he ordered the chief to go and slay the giants. Ra'Tasha accompanied the chief to the shrine, however, when the time came to battle, he offered Ra'Tasha gold to slay the giants and allow him to take all the credit. Ra'Tasha refused and the Orc chief was slain in the ensuing battle with the giants. Malacath however was pleased that his shrine was finally free of giants. Pleased enough to lift the curse and offer Ra'Tasha a powerful hammer as a reward.

3rd of Morning Star: With the Gourmet dead, the Dark Brotherhood are now ready to commence the final phase of “Operation Kill the Emperor” which is... um, killing the emperor. Astrid gave this one a special poison to slip into the emperor's meal while disguised as the Gourmet. At least his death will be swift and painless.

4th of Morning Star: Ra'Tasha and Serana came upon a grove of Ancestor Moths and began the ritual Dexion told us of. First this one took a scraping from a nearby tree and walked about using the bark to attract a large group of the Ancestor Moths. When he felt he had enough, Ra'Tasha began to read from the scrolls. Upon opening them, bright runes were etched onto his eyes and soon this one's vision was filled with a white light. Certainly he was not able to glean as much from this reading as a trained mystic would. All that was shown to him was a vision of a place called Darkfall Cave, and he knew that he had to go there.

5th of Morning Star: While passing through Ivarstead, Ra'Tasha heard rumours of a ghost haunting an old burial site just outside of town. Upon entering, Ra'Tasha found not a ghost, but instead a deranged man who died attacking Ra'Tasha. According to his journal, he was using a potion to appear as a ghost to scare away the villagers while he tried to open a dragon claw door. Apparently, he had been there long enough to go mad. When Ra'Tasha mentioned the door to the villagers, he was given a Sapphire Claw as a reward. Behind the dragon claw door there was another wall of power, in addition to dozens of Draugr.

6th of Morning Star: The inside of inside Darkfall Cave was filled with Falmer and many charus. Not just the charus Ra'Tasha is used to seeing though. He also came upon several that were wrapped in a cocoon-like structure and burst out sporting wings and sharp claws. At the very end of the cave Ra'Tasha found something amazing. Before his eyes stood a Snow Elf, not a Falmer, but a sighted, upright standing Snow Elf. He introduced himself as Gelebor and explained that he was a priest of Auri-El, which is the elven name for Akatosh. Ra'Tasha feels silly for not knowing this already. He can name most of the Daedric Princes easily, but has a hard time remembering half of the Nine Divines. Of course, having actually spoken with most of the Daedric Princes may have something to do with that.

According to Gelebor, he and his brother where able to escape the fate of the Falmer. Forced underground, they had no choice but to become subservient to the Dwemer. According to Gelebor, the Dwemer forced the Snow Elves to ingest some toxic substance that was responsible for the Falmers' loss of sight and descent into madness. Auriel's Bow is in an inner sanctum dedicated to Auri-El. There are only two problems. The sanctum is in a place called the Forgotten Vale and can only be opened by collecting water from five way shrines in the valley and then pouring the water into an ewer located in front of the sanctum. Apparently the whole thing is part of a pilgrimage-like ritual. The other problem is that Gelebor's brother Vrythur has sealed himself inside the sanctum with the bow and has gone mad. With Gelebor's blessing this one and Serana passed through a portal to the Forgotten Vale.

7th of Morning Star: The Forgotten Vale is really a beautiful place. It is covered in ice and snow like the rest of Skyrim, in addition there are waterfalls and frozen lakes, and all the animals have unique patterns on their hides. The valley also has many Falmer running about in the sunlight. Ra'Tasha thinks this is the first time he has seen a Falmer outside of a cave. Serana and this one spent most of the day travelling from one way shrine to the next collecting water. As we were crossing a froze lake two dragons erupted from beneath and attacked. It was a difficult battle but with Serana's help the dragons fell.

When these two finally found the sanctum they found the place filled with many charus and Falmer, all frozen completely solid. Vrythur's handiwork no doubt. When these two found the man in question they learned quite a number of things. First, that Vrythur was a vampire. It seems he used to be the Arch-Curate of the sanctum, until he was bitten by a vampire. According to Vrythur, Auri-El then turned his back on him. It was then that he struck upon a plot to blot out the sun to spite Auri-El, and created a prophecy about darkening the sun. By coating Auriel's Bow with the sacrificial blood of a Daughter of Coldharbour he would be able to taint the sun itself, as the bow draws its power from the sun. Until now he didn't have a pure-blooded vampire to complete his prophecy, ironic since Harkon has plenty of vampires to sacrifice but still lacked the bow. At any rate the two of us fought through waves of frozen charus and Falmer troops, then got close enough to the Elf to put an end to him. This one took the bow and parted ways with Serana.

8th of Morning Star: Ra'Tasha has been debating whether or not go through with this plan to kill the emperor all day. Titus Mede II. What would happen if he were dead? Mede was the one who signed the White-Gold concordat and surrendered to the Thalmor. If that hadn’t happened, the Skyrim civil war would never have happened, and the rest of the Empire would likely be intact. Maybe he is too weak to be emperor. If Amaund wants him dead merely to usurp him, then the new emperor will owe Ra'Tasha a favour...

Eventually Ra'Tasha entered the castle in Solitude while impersonating the Gourmet. This one slipped the poison into the stew and watched as the emperor died in front of him. As Ra'Tasha was making his escape, he was confronted by Maro and a group of guards. It seems a member of the Dark Brotherhood betrayed Ra'Tasha and told Maro of the assassination. The man Ra'Tasha poisoned was simply a decoy! Maro taunted that even now the sanctuary was under siege. Ra'Tasha fought his way outside of the city, but lost sight of Maro. It seems Ra'Tasha is free of the Dark Brotherhood now. Still, he feels he should see if there are any survivors. At the very least he should learn the name of the one who betrayed Ra'Tasha.

9th of Morning Star: When this one arrived at the sanctuary, he found the place ablaze and corpses littered all over. Amid the flames Ra'Tasha saw Arnbjorn die fighting a group of soldiers. The only member of the Brotherhood that Ra'Tasha found alive was Nazir. Ra'Tasha admits, if he wanted to find anyone alive amid all this he is glad it was Nazir. These two tried to make our way out but the flames separated us and Ra'Tasha was cut off from the exit. Then the Night Mother called out to Ra'Tasha. She told this one to enter her coffin. Again. With the ceiling caving in around him Ra'Tasha did so.

Ra'Tasha is not certain how long he was trapped in there with the ancient corpse, but eventually Nazir dug him out. When he opened the door this one saw Babette was with him. Then the Night Mother spoke once more, telling this one where Astrid was. What we found was not a pretty sight. Astrid lay on the floor covered in horrific burns. She admitted that she was the one who betrayed the Dark Brotherhood. It seems Maro learned the location of the Sanctuary and Astrid told of the assassination in exchange for immunity. Obviously Maro went back on his word. Astrid confessed that she felt threatened by Ra'Tasha and his ability to speak with the Night Mother, meaning she was no longer the one in charge. After the attack on the sanctuary she performed the Black Sacrament, making herself the intended target. Guess it's her way of saying she's sorry. So Ra'Tasha did the honourable-ish thing and killed her.

With the headquarters more than a little compromised, Nazir suggested taking Babette and the Night Mother to the Dawnstar Sanctuary to start anew. Before that however, the Night Mother told this one that Amaund Motierre was in Whiterun and knew where the real emperor was.

10th of Morning Star: With Auriel's Bow in Dawnguard possession, Isran was eager to march on Castle Volkihar and put an end to Harkon and his vampires for good. Well, almost all of his vampires. Ra'Tasha has finally convinced him to trust Serana. While Isran was giving a speech to the Dawnguard, Ra'Tasha could only see the conflicted look Serana's face. Killing your father can't be easy, even if they are as twisted as Harkon. Ra'Tasha hopes she will be alright.

11th of Morning Star: Ra'Tasha spoke with Amaund Motierre, who seemed pleasantly surprised that the brotherhood was still willing to carry out the contract. According to him, the emperor is in Solitude harbour, aboard a ship called the Katariah. It seems Maro is commanding the soldiers who are guarding the emperor. Thus the Empire has almost killed Ra'Tasha twice now. Though admittedly, Ra'Tasha was kind of asking for it this time. Ra'Tasha is sick of all this. Emperor Titus Mede II can kiss Ra'Tasha's ass!

12th of Morning Star: It was the dead of night when Ra'Tasha pounced on the Solitude docks. The guards in his way quickly went down and Ra'Tasha killed Commander Maro. Then he dove into the water and swam out to the Katariah, anchored in the middle of the river. Ra'Tasha snuck aboard through the lower levels and made short work of all in his path. Then the moment of truth came. Ra'Tasha walked into Emperor Titus Mede II's chamber to find him expecting this one. We spoke for a short while, Mede realized that he could not escape the brotherhood, so he did not attempt to flee or fight back. Instead he simply asked that Ra'Tasha kill the one who put the contract in his head. Then the emperor of Tamriel turned around and let Ra'Tasha strike the final blow.

With the support of all the Dawnguard, Ra'Tasha and Serana marched on Castle Volker. Vampires were everywhere and things turned bloody very quickly. While the Dawnguard took the fight to the castle residents, Ra'Tasha and Serana made our way through the confusion to confront Lord Harkon. The vampire lord did not go down easily, but eventually he did fall, his body turning to ash upon death. Then, just like that, our quest was done. The sun was saved. Serana was sad to see her father go, but she knew she did what she had to. After seeing Serana help slay her own father, this one believes that Isran finally sees in Serana what Ra'Tasha saw upon first meeting her. In fact, he has offered for Serana to stay with the Dawnguard.

13th of Morning Star: Ra'Tasha met with Amaund Motierre one last time. As soon as he heard the emperor was dead he quickly divulged the hidden location of our payment, the very cavern where we first met. He was very pleased with himself, talking about how Ra'Tasha has done a great service for the Empire and how things would now be changing. People say Mede was a weak emperor, losing to the Thalmor as he did. But he was able to face his death with dignity. Ra'Tasha carried out the old man's last wish and stabbed Motierre in the back. Both figuratively and literally. If he had done this just to become emperor himself, than he was certainly a too loathsome a man to rule fairly. If he was not alone in this endeavour, well, hopefully they will do a better job of running Cyrodiil than the late emperor. Besides, Ra'Tasha is hopeful that others will believe it was the Thalmor who hired the brotherhood to kill the emperor. That will certainly make them more wary of our real foe.

14th of Morning Star: Well, Ra'Tasha acquired the payment from the cave and brought it to the Dawnstar sanctuary. Nazir and the others made it there alright. Now they begin the process of rebuilding the sanctuary and recruiting new members. This time though, Ra'Tasha is in charge.

15th of Morning Star: While passing through Windhelm, Ra'Tasha was attacked by a pair of men in strange cloaks and wearing masks. On their bodies they carried a note saying they were to take the boat from Solsthein and kill this one. Eager to find who wants Ra'Tasha dead now, he boarded a ship for Solsthein.

Solsthein is an island located roughly between northeast Skyrim and Morrowind, so that it has much in common with Skyrim, despite technically being closer to Morrowind. The capital is called Raven Rock, formerly a mining town for the East Empire Company, now inhabited by Dunmer of House Redoran. Ra'Tasha can say for certain the city is well defended, for shortly after his arrival a dragon attacked and was quickly put down.

After asking around, many of the residents said they knew these cultists were sent by one called Miraak, but they had no idea why or how they knew this. Either this city has a serious Skooma problem or someone is messing with these peoples minds.

Outside of the city, the land is absolutely covered with ash. As he was exploring the island, Ra'Tasha came across a group of werewolves called the Frostmoon pack. They claim to be the last pack living on Solsthein.

16th of Morning Star: Ra'Tasha came across a large temple being worked on by a number of workers, all of which seemed to be under some sort of spell, as they did not seem able to speak. There was also a young woman of the Skaal tribe named Frea, who was trying to snap the others out of it, to no avail. When asked about Miraak, Frea told Ra'Tasha that he was once a dragon priest in service to the dragons. However, he betrayed his masters and was punished for it. Without anything else to do we explored the tomb beneath the structure that was being worked on.

Inside the tomb, Ra'Tasha found a strange black book. When he opened it a black tentacle popped out and everything went black. When Ra'Tasha awoke he was standing before Miraak in some strange land. Miraak was accompanied by a dragon and two creatures that appeared to be a mass of seaweed with a dozen tentacles for a face and four skeletal arms. Miraak spoke to this one about attaining a great power that would make him invincible. The vision did not last long and Ra'Tasha was soon back in the tomb.

Ra'Tasha returned with Frea to the Skaal village to speak with her father, Storn. He was busy maintaining a barrier spell to keep the people of the village from falling under Miraak's influence. He said that Miraak is also dragonborn, possibly the first dragonborn ever. He asked Ra'Tasha to go to a place called Saering's Watch and look for a word of power. Miraak is known to have acquired this word and it may be how he is controlling all those people.

After returning to Raven Rock, Ra'Tasha was asked by an old man to investigate a nearby mine. According to him, his grandfather disappeared in it decades ago under mysterious circumstances. Inside the mine Ra'Tasha, found his body with an unusual red sword. He also found another black book like the one he had seen earlier. Another tentacle popped out and sent Ra'Tasha to the same green skied land he was in before. However this time Ra'Tasha was greeted by Hermaeus Mora. It seems Miraak's plan involves Hermaeus Mora's realm of Apocrypha somehow. This time Ra'Tasha had a chance to look around a bit and noticed the entire landscape was made out of black books. It is also infested with dozens of seekers, those tentacle monsters Ra'Tasha saw before.

17th of Morning Star: Ra'Tasha was asked by the priest of Raven Rock to clear out the undead in the temple. However, since Dunmer cremate their dead Ra'Tasha had to clear out a group of ash apawn instead of Draugr.

During Ra'Tasha's assault on Saering's Watch, he had to fight off a bunch of Draugrs and a dragon who happened to be circling the area. After learning a word of power, he followed Storn's advice and used it on one of the island's magical stones where people were entranced. The spell immediately broke and the people returned to their senses. The stone also broke open and a vile fish beast attacked us. Storn believes that Ra'Tasha can slow Miraak's plan by performing the same ritual with all of the other stones on the island. Storn also spoke of a Dunmer named Neloth, who he says is an expert on the black books. Perhaps he can tell this one how Hermaeus Mora is involved in all this.

18th of Morning Star: Ra'Tasha found Neloth, who makes his residence inside a giant mushroom. He was willing to help this one in his quest and believes he knows of the black book that Miraak used to attain his ability to bend people's will. He brought Ra'Tasha to an old Dwemer city off the coast of Solsthein, a city that is now mostly underwater. After locating the black book, Ra'Tasha was once again brought to the realm of forbidden knowledge and tentacles. After an audience with Hermaeus Mora, Ra'Tasha was taught the second part of the bend will shout. Mora is willing to teach this one the final part of the shout, but in exchange he wants some secret the Skaal have been hiding.

This one left the library a dragon attacked, claiming to work for Miraak. The same dragon Ra'Tasha saw Miraak ride away on earlier. This shout must be powerful indeed if it can control a dragon. At any rate, it is dead now, so it won't be killing Ra'Tasha anytime soon.

19th of Morning Star: Ra'Tasha has been all over the island freeing the other stones from Miraak's power. With that done he returned to Storn and told him of Hermaeus Mora's “deal.” He realized that to stop Miraak he would have to give up the secrets of the Skaal. He took a black book and spoke with Mora. The Daedric Lord stuck a tentacle through Storn's head and took all his knowledeg. Hermaeus Mora was satisfied and gave this one the last word of power for the shout.

While exploring the island, Ra'Tasha found a group of pirates looking for the buried treasure of the pirate Death-Brand. This one also rescued one of the Skaal who had been kidnapped by Thalmor. Apparently they wanted him to show them how to craft Stalhrim, a special kind of ice that is used to craft weapons and armour. He told this one that their leader has a map to a mine full of the stuff.

After some more exploring, Ra'Tasha came a cross a band of Nords who had apparently been chased out of their mead hall by a group of Rieklings. Ra'Tasha volunteered to help take it back with them. A bunch of dead Rieklings later Ra'Tasha was drinking mead with his new friends.

20th of Morning Star: Ra'Tasha accompanied the leader of the mead hall Nords, Bujold, on her way to the tomb of Hrothmund, the founder of the mead hall. She wished to ask him if she was worthy to lead the hall, apparently something she had done before. However this time, Hrothmund told Bujold that she was not worthy, having let Rieklings take over the hall. Ra'Tasha agreed to keep this a secret from the others and continue to keep the mead hall open.

21st of Morning Star: Ra'Tasha found and dealt with the Thalmor that were looking for the Stalhrim. They won't be bothering anyone anymore.

Apparently Raven Rock has been experiencing a number of attacks from ash spawn of late. One of them was carrying a declaration of war signed by an Imperial General named Carius, the founder of Raven Rock, who died 200 years ago when Red Mountain erupted. After following the ash spawn to their fort, Ra'Tasha found notes from a necromancer who had brought Carius back from the dead. It seems the Carius killed the one who reanimated him then started raising an army of ash spawn. Ra'Tasha tracked down the general and killed him again so he won't be a problem.

The second councillor of Raven Rock came to Ra'Tasha with a problem. He suspects someone is planning to assassination the first councillor. Apparently the Ulen family wants revenge against him as part of some old grudge. Ra'Tasha saw Tilisu Severin inside the old Ulen family tomb and suspects she may know something. Upon walking into Severin Manor, Ra'Tasha was attacked by the inhabitants and was forced to defend himself. Inside the safe Ra'Tasha found proof that the Severin's are actually members of the Ulen family and that they have a small band of assassins waiting at Ashfallow Citadel, waiting to move on the councillor.

Before Ra'Tasha could leave town a dragon attacked. Ra'Tasha took this chance to use his bend will shout on the dragon and found that it put the dragon completely in his power. Ra'Tasha was even able to ride upon his back.

22nd of Morning Star: Sneaking in to Ashfallow Citadel, Ra'Tasha found the place swarming with Morag Tong, the assassin group that the Dark Brotherhood splintered off from centuries ago. This one was able to put an end to their plots and wipe them out. For his service to Raven Rock the councillor rewarded Ra'Tasha with Severin manor.

Using the map Ra'Tasha acquired from the pirates, he was able to locate four parts of the armour of the dread pirate Death-Brand. He found the crypt of Death-Brand where his treasure was kept and fought the dread pirate for it. Naturally Ra'Tasha won. His spoils were a magic sword.

23rd of Morning Star: Using one of the black books to return to Apocrypha, Ra'Tasha made his way to the final confrontation with Miraak. After fighting his way through numerous tentacle beasts, Ra'Tasha met a dragon come to slay him. With the bend will shout Ra'Tasha was able to sway him to the side of good. Ra'Tasha rode the dragon to the tallest tower in the land and faced off against Miraak and a pair of dragons he had swayed. As the battle wore on Miraak absorbed the souls of one of his dragons, then the other, to regain strength. Then he absorbed the soul of Ra'Tasha's own dragon. It was a long battle but Miraak eventually fell. When he did Hermaeus Mora arrived and impaled him upon a tentacle, allowing this one to absorb his soul. Thus the last dragonborn has slain the first.

Ra'Tasha has done much since arriving in Skyrim. He has been to every corner of this land, and visited other realms. He has slain every manner of creature imaginable and almost died a dozen different ways. Peace has come to Skyrim, though this one is not sure for how long. Ra'Tasha does not know what will come next, but he intends to take things easy for a while. Maybe find a mead hall and have a drink with friends. Anything that would be a nice change of pace from slaying the undead, bandits, and dragons.


End file.
